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Noob Timing Question

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Hey all am back in sube land again:banana:

 

and i am trying to resurect my 88 DL. She just up and quit on me at about 60 mph about a year ago and has sat basically ever since....when i got it off the freeway and tried to start it up it would run but extremely badly like it was only running on 2 cylinders....had her towed home and there she sat till yesterday....got the fabled wild hair you know where and decied with the high price of gas i needed it back on the road....so i put a fresh battery in her and started troubleshooting it....it has plenty of fuel pressure, but no spark....i popped off the timing belt covers and found the driver side belt extremely loose and cracked....time to replace passanger side looks like brand new....was reading the write up on miles fox's site (great site btw miles :headbang: ) and had a question regarding the inital timing set.....it talks about lining the 3 lines up on the flywheel with the notch....exactly which of the 3 lines do you start with....put mine on the middle until the rain chased me off....so am i off in the right direction ? thanks guys and gals

 

sporta:cool:

either the passenger side cam should be at the top at TDC with the driver's side on the bottom, or vice versa - you should NEVER have both cam marks a the top, at the same time - other than that, you're on the right track

good luck

yep goin the right way:) ....i screwed up my first time and put both cams up:banghead:

  • Author
either the passenger side cam should be at the top at TDC with the driver's side on the bottom, or vice versa - you should NEVER have both cam marks a the top, at the same time - other than that, you're on the right track

good luck

 

Ok i got that much but there are 3 lines lll on the flywheel....is the far left one l l l for the passanger side cam? and the l l l for the drivers side ? thanks

Ok i got that much but there are 3 lines lll on the flywheel....is the far left one l l l for the passanger side cam? and the l l l for the drivers side ? thanks

 

I've always aligned the crank to the middle mark for both belts. Has worked just fine so far.

Yes, it is the center mark that you want to use.

first - completely ignore the passengers side cam, this is a two step process. install each belt indepently, not both at the same time. line up the MIDDLE of the three marks you're talking about. line up the drivers side cam - install the drivers side belt.

 

once that step is complete, then start thinking about the passengers side belt. rotate the crank shaft one complete revolution (360 degrees) and bring the same middle mark to line up again on the bellhousing. now line up the passengers side cam and install that timing belt.

 

once you're done you'll notice that each belt is 180 degrees off from the other. when one cam mark is down, the other is up. if they are both up or both down, it is wrong.

 

rotate the engine around at least one time and check that both belts are lined up dead on before continuing. no point in putting everything back together if it's one tooth off, which is easy to do.

Another little tip I discovered:

 

After you have the belts on, timing double checked - Start & run for 10 seconds or so. Or roll it by wrench something annoying like 10 turns. The belts will walk into position where they will run. Invariably, retensioning will be required. Once, I had one that wanted to run up against the side of one of the flanges on the crank pully. Took it off, flipped it, and it ran in a much better position.

Does not need to be two step - Center line of the three on the flywheel - drivers side cam mark up - passenger side down. Throw the belts on. Adjust tension and you are done.

 

Also - getting the belts on is much easier if you remove the bolt from the slot in the tensioner and push them down farther till the belt goes on easily.

 

GD

adding to the noob questions, what do you guys use to turn the crank?

adding to the noob questions, what do you guys use to turn the crank?

I use a 7/8" crapsman 12-point socket and a 2' snapon breaker bar :headbang:

 

I suppose a metric 6pt socket would be better but if it takes much work to turn the crank, you probably have other issues.

 

-A

I use a 7/8" crapsman 12-point socket and a 2' snapon breaker bar :headbang:

 

I suppose a metric 6pt socket would be better but if it takes much work to turn the crank, you probably have other issues.

 

-A

 

Technically, the crank bolt is 22mm :-P

 

(<---- has known fastenova for wayyyy too long :D )

  • Author

ok got the timing belts replaced....and they are aligned properly .... is there anything i need to do to the dist.? if so how and what ?

thanks

If you didn't touch the distributor, you'll be fine. Its driven off of the driver's side cam, so if the cam is in time and the distributor was before hand, you're fine.

Does it run now?..if not your 180 out on the dizzy....

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