About a month ago now, I was driving my '92 loyale and it died. No funny noises or smells, it just stopped going. I was on the side of the road in a neighborhood and a couple of "helpful" men stopped to see if there was anything they could do. I was thinking ignition problems or fuel problems. One of them said that if they sprayed some of that starter suff in there, then it might go and we would know that it just wasn't getting fuel. I stupidly said ok. SO they sprayed the stuff and I tried to start the car and then there was a bad noise.

 

A friend helped me tow the car to the nearest mechanic (Firestone) who said it was a bad timing belt, that will be $600 to fix it, please. So I took the car home and spent 3 three weeks trying to get the crankshaft pulley off. Finally I got the car appart in the appropriate places and replaced the timing belts. The teeth were ripped off of the left side timing belt, looked like they were ripped off by the crankshaft sprocket. I have a feeling that the bad noise I heard was those teeth getting ripped off and that the original problem was something else. So I got the belts put back on, although lining them up was a little tricky. The section of the timing window with the little arrows got broken off, but I put it back on to line it up with the middle of the three lines. The camshaft marks seemed to be off by about half a timing belt tooth.

 

So the car still won't start. The starter goes but it never catches. Where do I look next? (Yes, I made sure the battery was charged)

 

Thanks

 

Dianalee

Hi, I can guess that it actually was the timing belt that started the problem in the first place. When you talk about the timing marks are refering to them or the (lighter) hash marks? Give us more information about the car and that will help. What engine? fuel injected or throttle body? Overhead Cam or valve? Turbo or nonTurbo? any other information you can come up with.

 

boing

 

NOTE: have a little patience these guys are goooooooood. I'm pretty sure you'll find out what's going on.

did you take the distributor off? if so it may be out of alignment.

 

rotate the crank so the 3 marks are in line, and the driver side cam dot is up. from there, rotate untill you see the 0 deg mark and then line your distributor to #1. the #1 will be the one to the right of the screw on the back of the cap, the firing order is 1,3,2,4, counterclockwise.

 

the distributor turns 1/2 times as the crank pilley, so the crank will turn 2 times for the distributor 1 time

 

go thru the motions to make sure the ign timing is right, then report back

 

when you crank, the dist is turning, do you have spark at the coil wire?

also, dont forget to make sure that when you do belts, the #1 cyl is at top dead center of the compression stroke

 

i made this mistake the first time i did belts when i build my rx, i set it to tdc of the exhaust stroke. needless o say, it never started, just backfired a lot.

Ok, tomorrow I will check the distributor and make sure its in the right position. But I'm not sure how to check the cylinder or how to change it if it isn't right.

 

(Thanks for responding. I WILL get this car running again!)

 

Dianalee

 

also, dont forget to make sure that when you do belts, the #1 cyl is at top dead center of the compression stroke

 

i made this mistake the first time i did belts when i build my rx, i set it to tdc of the exhaust stroke. needless o say, it never started, just backfired a lot.

also, dont forget to make sure that when you do belts, the #1 cyl is at top dead center of the compression stroke

 

That's not how it works.

 

Okay, let's make sure you've got everything lined up right. There are three marks on the flywheel that are seperate from the ignition timiming marks. You should have the pointer lined up with the middle of the three. Then on the cam sprockets there's the little hole, On one cam the hole should be at 12 o'clock the other should be at 6 o'clock.

Maybe this is where I goofed. I lined up both cam sprokets with the mark at the hole (12:00). One is supposed to be away from the hole??

 

 

 

That's not how it works.

 

Okay, let's make sure you've got everything lined up right. There are three marks on the flywheel that are seperate from the ignition timiming marks. You should have the pointer lined up with the middle of the three. Then on the cam sprockets there's the little hole, On one cam the hole should be at 12 o'clock the other should be at 6 o'clock.

I mean should one hole be on the opposite side of the mark? My marks are both on top of the cam sprockets.

 

Sorry, I typed that backwards.

 

Maybe this is where I goofed. I lined up both cam sprokets with the mark at the hole (12:00). One is supposed to be away from the hole??

Maybe this is where I goofed. I lined up both cam sprokets with the mark at the hole (12:00). One is supposed to be away from the hole??

Can I email you a section of the service manual that explains all of this??

about 306k and it is a .pdf so you will need adobe acrobat reader.

 

Hush

That would be very much appreciated!! I have adobe acrobat.

 

Dianalee

 

Can I email you a section of the service manual that explains all of this??

about 306k and it is a .pdf so you will need adobe acrobat reader.

 

Hush

Yes, the timing belts (as an end result) should be one at 12 o clock and one at 6 o clock. You can install them both at the same time that way, but I prefer to install the rear one first at 12 o clock, rotate the engine 360 degrees. The pully with the belt should now be pointing down. Then do the front one with it at 12. rotate another 360 degrees just to make sure everything is staying in time properly.

 

Also... on each belt you are supposed to torque the pully to 12-18 ft lbs (kinda to preload the timing belt) before tightening the tensioner bolts... this is usually the reason that belts lose teeth, they are too loose.

 

I think the repair manual should cover torquing the belts rather well. If not someone else can probably explain it more clear that I as I tend to ramble as I am right now

The engine is an Ea82 (at least I am assuming that's what it is, since that's what's stamped on top of the engine). It doesn't have a carbuerator (my first car with no carb) so that means fuel injected, right? Not turbo. Don't know what overhead cam means.

 

Yes, this list has been great! I am really glad you are hear and are SO NICE! I'd like to find a list like this for Suburbans (Is that a bad word here?)

 

Dianalee

 

Hi, I can guess that it actually was the timing belt that started the problem in the first place. When you talk about the timing marks are refering to them or the (lighter) hash marks? Give us more information about the car and that will help. What engine? fuel injected or throttle body? Overhead Cam or valve? Turbo or nonTurbo? any other information you can come up with.

 

boing

 

NOTE: have a little patience these guys are goooooooood. I'm pretty sure you'll find out what's going on.

that happened to me once my car just wouldn't start one day. it ran fine the day before too. so i hade a friend work on it and he did some timing stuff and other and he got it started. after you get it running if you havent already get a cap and rotor new spark plugs and wires it will help it run better.

That would be very much appreciated!! I have adobe acrobat.

 

Dianalee

Send me you email addy (edited for antispam)

hjack [at] ctcweb.net

 

hush

Duh!! Sorry I'm half asleep right now. (I'll use being a single mom with twin 3 yr olds as an excuse. I don't know what excuse I'll use when they get older!)

 

dianaleedeter [at] earthlink.net (edited for anitspam)

 

Thank you

Dianalee

 

Send me you email addy

hjack [at] ctcweb.net

 

hush

I got the torque part right, but somehow I missed where you are supposed to have one up and one down. It would be really cool if that solved the problem!

 

Dianalee

 

Yes, the timing belts (as an end result) should be one at 12 o clock and one at 6 o clock. You can install them both at the same time that way, but I prefer to install the rear one first at 12 o clock, rotate the engine 360 degrees. The pully with the belt should now be pointing down. Then do the front one with it at 12. rotate another 360 degrees just to make sure everything is staying in time properly.

 

Also... on each belt you are supposed to torque the pully to 12-18 ft lbs (kinda to preload the timing belt) before tightening the tensioner bolts... this is usually the reason that belts lose teeth, they are too loose.

 

I think the repair manual should cover torquing the belts rather well. If not someone else can probably explain it more clear that I as I tend to ramble as I am right now

You may use the excuse "It's from too much valium taken over the years while raising twin daughters" Have fun with your handful there!!!

If you follow the directions carefully and make sure that you're using the three hash marks (with the arrow pointing at the middle one) and having one belt located so the tiny hole at the top of the sprocket is at 12 o'clock and the other belt with the sprocket hole at the bottom (at 6 o'clock) you'll do fine.

If you have problems with it keep asking questions... I'm tellin ya these guys are really good and communicate pretty dog gone well.

 

boing

Rambling would be appreciated right now! I can't get the belts torqued!

 

Dianalee

 

Yes, the timing belts (as an end result) should be one at 12 o clock and one at 6 o clock. You can install them both at the same time that way, but I prefer to install the rear one first at 12 o clock, rotate the engine 360 degrees. The pully with the belt should now be pointing down. Then do the front one with it at 12. rotate another 360 degrees just to make sure everything is staying in time properly.

 

Also... on each belt you are supposed to torque the pully to 12-18 ft lbs (kinda to preload the timing belt) before tightening the tensioner bolts... this is usually the reason that belts lose teeth, they are too loose.

 

I think the repair manual should cover torquing the belts rather well. If not someone else can probably explain it more clear that I as I tend to ramble as I am right now