I had a broken timing belt and replaced both belts on a 1.8L Loyale. I put the flywheel on the middle of the three marks and one cam pulley at 12:00 and then I turned the engine 360 and installed the other belt.

 

It is now running like it is out of time backfiring and hardly any power. The belts seem to be installed perfectly. I tried moving the distributor but it is still the same.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

John

did you pull the distributor? if so, you need to put it at #1 with the toming marks at 0deg BTDC, not the 3 marks.

 

the driver side cam will be at 12:00, rotate the crank 360, it will be at 6:00. then put the passenger side at 12:00. and there you go. there is a notch in the plastic timing cover, which is inline with the cam cover seal.

 

chack and make sure you are not a tooth off.

I have changed the belts on mine so many times I lost count. Put the fly wheel on the center mark like you had it put the drivers side cam up at the 12:00 position, do not turn the crank and put the other one at 6:00 and put the whole thing back together. I had the same problem with mine not wanting to run the first time I changed them and I had a subby feller from Bend Or tell me to put one up one down and there you go. It has worked like a charm for me every since. Good luck hope this helps:headbang:

I did not pull the distributor. I put it all back together once and thought that the timing had to be changed a little. I have put the belts on ten times already and started the car without any cover or water pump or alternator attached. It still backfires and has now power. I have to be doing something wrong!! Thanks for the replies.

Did you check the timing on both cams after setting the tension, or before?

I checked the marks before and after tensioning. I am still looking for ideas. I just tried the do not turn crank trick and it stil is the same. Thanks

I sounds like one or both of them is a tooth off.. very easy to do.. if you rotate the motor by hand a bunch of times(10?-20?) do the cam marks still line up or are they slightly skewed.?