Hey. I have a 98 with 100k miles on it. I am changing the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, etc. I was putting the belt on and had all my marks lined up properly and bolted the tensioner in and even before removing the pin it rolled some slack and moved my drivers side cam off clockwise from the front by a tooth. I removed the tensioner (pin was still in) and turned the cam counterclockwise back to its mark but it seems to spin easily now a few degrees left and right. I finally have everything line up perfectly but have I thrown off the VVT somehow and even though I am on the mark am I really off??? All I need to do is pull the tensioner pin and put things back together but I want to make sure nothing hosed when I spun the cam back a 1/4 inch counterclockwise to line it back up.
Thanks,
Rob

 

I believe you should be fine. Those cam gears will usually have a little "looseness" feeling to them when you mark is close to TDC. I don't think you can rotate anything inside that VVTI system by going counter clockwise. It is worm gear opperated, and shouldn't be able to turn due to physics. I would roll that cam back one tooth, pop your tensioner back on. if it all looks cherry, rotate the crankshaft 2 full turns and re-check your marks. Going forward would un-do any backwards rotation of the VVTI mechanism.

 

Alright!! That is what I was hoping to hear. I am doing this outside and running out of daylight but I will go button up what I can. I guess the 2 rotations will tell if I did anything when a valve bumps a piston at which point I will back off and reassess.
Thanks for the reply. I will post back tomorrow how it goes.
Rob

 

Everything turned thru just fine. 2 revolutions and the marks were still lined up perfectly. I got everything but the under pan back on and I still have to fill it with antifreeze and reconnect the battery but will wait till morning when I can give it the once over with bright daylight.


Thanks for the assistance. I bought the crank bolt tool and it made the job very easy combined with a 7 foot black iron cheater bar and a 3/4 inch drive breaker bar. $19.99 at Harbor Freight for breaker bar and $11 at Northern Tool for a 22mm 3/4 impact socket. Used a 1/2 inch breaker bar on tool with a 3 foot section of the black iron pipe wedged against the ground. Still had to give it a few hefty pulls but it creaked loose and all seems well.

Provided my engine doesn't grenade tomorrow I would not hesitate to do this again at 180k miles. I just have to figure out that combination of which part of belt goes on first to keep from having slack like earlier. Probably in the service manual somewhere or on here.
Thanks again,
Rob

 

Happy to report everything is running great and no leaks or anything. Next project will be plugs and a new air conditioning compressor. Mine is making the clicking noise at idle sometimes but works fine and stops above idle speed.
Thanks again for all the good advice.
Rob

 

Excellent! Glad i could help. Thank God for cheap Harbour Freight tools!

 

That's the truth!!! $19.99 for a 3/4 inch breaker bar and it is beefy and held up to the torque a 7 foot cheater bar could put on it. I had one of their finish nail guns go out on me but that was after having it 4 years and using it on several rooms and projects and to be honest I may not have oiled it as often as I should have. $39.95 and I had another one though so I consider that a win.
Rob