did you compare the new timing belt with the old one?... To make sure they are the same (in length and number of teeth). Sometime the part person gave u the wrong belt.

 

^Its not going to be the belt. At least I don't think so. The cams and crank lines up as he stated even by turning them around manually.

It does sound like an ignition issue or maybe the maf as sjlexus408 mentioned. Check on those.

Wait a minute! What are the white markings on the cam gears (4th tooth to the right of the line marking)? Maybe you are off by that much on both side at TDC on crank?

 

Unless I'm confused the white line with the indented dot to the right of where they are lined up now should line up with the crank when it is at 60* BTDC (yellow line on crankshaft pulley). The pictures have the indented line on the cam gears line up with TDC (white line) on the crankshaft pulley, which I'm pretty sure that is correct but if it's not somebody please correct me.

Also, I just tried unplugging the MAF sensor and the motor dies as soon as I unplug it.

 

if you did not touch the cam sensor, chances are you skipped a tooth. how is the tensioner? is it on all the way?

 

i think you have a bad maf sensor if it dies when you unplug it.

 

No, I didn't touch the cam position sensor. Tensioner is brand new and is torqued to specs. If it had skipped a tooth wouldn't the timing marks not line up after?

When a MAF sensor is unplugged does the car not normally shut off?

 

I see... I get confuse between the two every time hehehe... Hhhmmm and no CEL/codes? This sure is tough just when you thought you did everything by the book

Keep us posted.

 

First mark is "Sub timing mark" which is 60 degrees Before Top Dead Center (60 BTDC). Is it on the second mark or the first?

 

60 BTDC is the dot.
jkuczek has the timing marks perfect at 0* TDC.

I do not think the mechanical timing is off.
If it was a ignition misfire the ECU would pick this up and throw a misfire code for that particular cylinder. So maybe not a misfire...

So it runs strong and smooth off idle above 1000rpm...humm

I would clean the MAF sensor, check for cracks in the intake tube after the MAF sensor and triple check all the vacuum lines especially the lines that attach to the power steering pump.

...hope this helps, good luck.

 

I just rechecked the vacuum lines and they are all good. Also I didn't notice any cracks on the intake tube. Tomorrow I'll pick up some of that CRC or what ever it is and clean out the MAF. Until then I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Again, thanks for the help.

 

Have you checked for a vacuum leak? There are so many little tubes it's very hard to track them all down. Spray carb cleaner/starting fluid around the lines and see if the idle changes.

 

The first mark that comes up on the crank pulley should line up with the dot on the cam gears. The second mark on the crank pulley that comes up should line up with the line on the cam gears.

Sometimes people set it to where the first line on the crank pulley is in sync with the line on the cam gears instead of the dot. If you did that, then the timing will by 60'degrees off. Did you change any cam or crank oil seals? Then check all of your vacuum hoses post-maf. If any of them have a leak or tear in it, then it will affect low rpm/idle, but at higher RPM it won't be as noticeable.

 

The correct marks are lined up together. I didn't change the cam or crank oil seals. I did get some MAF cleaner and I'm going to give that a shot in a minute here and we'll see how that goes.

 

Your using the wrong marks on the cam shafts......I've done the same mistake before. There are two marks on the camshaft, 1 on the harmonic balancer which your using in the pic and one on the cam gear itself. The marks your using on the cam shafts are designed to line up with the mark on the cam gear and not the harmonic balancer. If you notice the white mark on the harmonic balancer at tdc, the mark for that on the camshafts are the white marks not the notches. So you either need to move the camshats to line up with the white marks or the way I do it is keep your marks on the camshafts and take off the harmonic balancer and find the dot on the crankshaft gear and line it up with the mark on the backing plate. Garanteed thats your problem. If you have any questions let me know, I've done plenty of timing belts on Lexus and toyota vehicles.

 

There is actually 2 marks on the balancer you can see it in the post tinman made with the service manual posted in it (white = TDC, yellow = is subtiming mark and is 60*BDTC). They both line up with the corresponding mark on the camshaft that the service manual shows. Also it was the same marks that were lined up when I took it apart.