ok helping a friend work on his car. when he got the car (88 gl wagon w/turbo, 5 speed push button 4WD.) the distributor was out of it... supposedly had a bad timing belt, found out the oil pump was seized. pulled motor, put in new seals, oil pump. when we put the belts in the flywheel was on the center of the three valve timing marks. right?! the cams were 180 out of each other. Right?! now we had the motor in the car going to put the disty back in. we put it on TDC of #1 compression stroke, and the rotor bug pointing to #1 spark plug wire on the cap. all right so far? -if not say so! and please keep reading... then turned it over by hand, came back to say it was in time for the firing order. but when we put the valve timing marks on the flywheel and the housing the cams were out of time or not lined up with the marks on the plastic peices... ah not sure what we did wrong as of right now. Thinking we either have the cams off by a couple teeth or that the TDC of #1 is on exhaust stroke. ? making sense. when we started ot tried to start the car, it kind of popped, not loud but like air was leaking from somewhere, is that the valves opening and closing or am I off with the timing? Where did I go wrong. sorry if I confused you but this has got me! Thanks for reading this post! Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

oh and the hatch isnt running et, but have the lift on! just need to finish my motor and the interior... later pics I know I know.

IIRC The timing of an EA series motor really doesn't have anything to do with TDC

Try this thread from http://www.subaruxt.com : http://subaruxt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8194&start=60

 

On the last page there is a pic for reference that shows where everything lines up at.

when we put the belts in the flywheel was on the center of the three valve timing marks. right?!

 

right.

 

the cams were 180 out of each other. Right?

 

well, maybe - one straight up and one straight down?

 

Did you do it like this?

http://www.economysuperstar.com/milesfox/subaru/service/timingbelt.htm

 

 

on TDC of #1 compression stroke, and the rotor bug pointing to #1 spark plug wire on the cap.

 

This looks right, if you're sure it was the compression stroke.

 

when we put the valve timing marks on the flywheel and the housing the cams were out of time or not lined up with the marks on the plastic peices

 

They should be straight up and straight down. If not, you're off a tooth or so.

 

 

when we started ot tried to start the car, it kind of popped, not loud but like air was leaking from somewhere, is that the valves opening and closing or am I off with the timing? .

 

That could be a belt off by a tooth or so.

What is the timing set at? Should be 20 degrees btdc. With the two green connectors connected under the steering wheel. You never said anything about setting the ignition timing. Are all the plug wires in the right spot. (I like to think it's a simple fix).

 

As for the oil pump seizing. Did it immediately stop running, I imagine it would, but you never know. Maybe some damage was done to the engine?