I need some help with finishing up a timing belt change. I changed the belt and forgot to spin the engine to verify the belt was right. It ran fine but tripped the P016 and P018 codes. I pulled it apart and found I was off 1 cog on each cam. I fixed that and went to bar the engine around. The crank will only turn about 60 degrees before it stops. I read a post where someone had a similar experience. They took the belt off, rotated all the gears independently, and reassembled it without any more problems. I did the same and the cams will turn clockwise without an issue, but the crank will still only go forward or backwards about 60 degrees from TDC. What do I do from here?

 

I performed the timing belt change on my 2007 Highlander 3.3V6 engine. You are not "supposed" to rotate the crank or even the camshaft gears after placing them TDC with the timing belt removed. However, the camshaft gears can be moved slightly during the timing belt change to install the belt.

As for your situation, I do not know if you can rotate the engine without pulling off the camshafts since it seems like the timing is off and the crankshaft misaligned and the pistons are probably making contact with the valves. So my advice would be to remove the valve covers and pull off the camshafts and the turn the crankshaft to top-dead-center and then reinstall the camshafts.

Tip: Use some bag clips to hold the timing belt when installing it so it does not slip or jump teeth.

 

There are certain repairsi where following procedures are critically important, doing the timing belt is one of them. The manual, and most every YT video showing this repair is extremely clear and concise on following steps in order to assure the crank/cams are in sync not being careful here can easily result in valve and/or piston damage. I'd strongly suggest not touching it and having a qualifed mechanic fix it at this point. The timing belt replacement is not hard but it must be done carefully and accurately.