timeing belt wont line up, please help!

[labeledsk8r]

ok plain and simply put im putting the new timeing belt on and when i slide the belt on its moves the T mark on the little timeing slot thingy (what ever its called) about one notch, so i mark the cam shaft sproket and the belt there so i know to move it one over, i take it off and reset it to TDC accordding to that hole thing and i put back on and bam its one off the other way now except i cant see the little guage anymore in the veiw hole. when i have it on the one that i made the make i can still see the gauge thing in the veiw hole but its not on the T mark its inbetween the T mark and another mark wtf???? please any help i got alot left to do on my car and this has slowed me down alot thanks

[2oodoor]

stick a screwdriveror in jam it somehow to lock it up so it dont move. also if you have a five speed put it in like third. if you have plugs out use something soft and not metal and stick in holes to keep crank from moving.. search the forum there are lots of ideas out there for that same 'situation" my redneck tools dont work for everybody.
bestwishes with it.
also of all the cars I have worked on with rubber band motors , marks on the belt have helped , but on these A20 motors it did not help at all, I did not get it. I did notice that tdc are slightley offset for #4 and #1 are not up at the same time, there is a very slight diff in degrees , very very slight, wierd.

[Jasonf860]

I just had the same problem! The crank needs to be lined up with the white line next to the T. No where else!!! That is TDC for the crank. make sure your cam is lined up like it should be. Now worry most about the belt on the FRONT of the engine. It should line right up. slip it over the rest of the pulley and weave it between the tensioner and over the oil pump. turn the crank for a space of 3 teeth on the cam, and tighten your tensioner. now turn it around till the cam reads TDC.. Check your crank, it should be dead on. (mine was VERY close) Turn it once more around and verify again. put it all back together and your set!

[labeledsk8r]

I just had the same problem! The crank needs to be lined up with the white line next to the T. No where else!!! That is TDC for the crank. make sure your cam is lined up like it should be. Now worry most about the belt on the FRONT of the engine. It should line right up. slip it over the rest of the pulley and weave it between the tensioner and over the oil pump. turn the crank for a space of 3 teeth on the cam, and tighten your tensioner. now turn it around till the cam reads TDC.. Check your crank, it should be dead on. (mine was VERY close) Turn it once more around and verify again. put it all back together and your set!

well thats sounds like about what i did, i have it on the T mark and the cam on tdc but i wove it and was trying to put the belt on the gam gear last? is this rong? should i weave it afterward? and do i turn it 3 notches after i have all of it saet up? thanks

[Jasonf860]

Yeah, I wove it first too. the critical side is the front so that is the side you should be doing first. So unlike every other one I've done. Start with the front, get it on the crank and cam then weave it through. if you already have it back together, just remove the valve cover and upper timing belt cover, line up the crank at TDC, loosen the tensioner, and slip the belt off the cam. While holding the belt up tight to the crank gear, have someone turn the cam to line it back up TDC. Then slip the belt back on. It's a pain to get the front side back on , but once you do, you can pull up on the tensioner side and slip it back on.

[labeledsk8r]

allright ima go try this again, and for info i dont have the valve cover or anything else on there right now, nore any pullys alternator and water pump, i have been rebuilding her up in the garge and this was on the list of many things to do to have it runnig again. thanks for the info ima go try and come back and let ya know

[Jasonf860]

GL man! GL!

[labeledsk8r]

still wont go on.... its like its way to tight, i have the tensioner spring out and it as lose and far back as it can go and still way to tight i dont get it, also wtf is the red line on that timeing mark thingy, i have it lined up with the one with the T (i can see my pistons aswell threw the hole and that one is at the very tip[ of the stroke) so wtf is the red one?? thanks i want to get this finished by tonight

[Jasonf860]

According to the 3 manuals i read, the red line is the Timing mark. Not the TDC mark. when your car is together and running, the red line is the one you set your timing to. I say put it together with the lower cover and all that good stuff, and do the belt slip method. I know it's not the right way, but it works and I got mine back in time in about 20 minutes tops. That was with taking the covers off and reinstalling them. Also, mine was a hair too tight to line up perfectly also. I moved the cam gear just a hair to line it up. Not a full tooth or anything, just a hair.

[labeledsk8r]

well the red mark isnt the top of the stroke but if your positive then it might work becuse it seems its off by like half a tooth now mayby when its there its corect?? but i want to double check that i time it to the red line (theres no T next to the red line lol)

[88Accord-DX]

Best advice I can give is to line up the "T" on the flywheel/flexplate when you put the lower timing belt on. Then line up the cam sprocket even with the marks corresponding to the top of the head.

The trick is to keep any slack from the cam to the crank sprocket when installing the belt..

You can't have any slack, that is where the 3 teeth rule comes into play.

[shepherd79]

if you keep saying that the belt is too small, are you sure you got the right belt?

[labeledsk8r]

well i got it on wth it lined up on the red line, i really hope thats the right mark hahahaha and like an idiot to get the belt fully on the bottom sproket i put the guide on and then slid the pully over it and hit the pully with a hammer to slide it all the way on and took at 1 inch chip outa the damn power stearing pully part dont know if its gona throw it outa wack but its gotta work till i get back to florida, thanks jasonf860 your way worked and thanks everyone else, now i get to finish the vacum hoses and put the exaust and radiator and waterpump and everything else i got left on the list

[88Accord-DX]

Your lucky there is any color on anything your looking at through the "peep hole". I don't care for colors myself, I'd look for the "T" on the flywheel. (or the mark on the flexplate)

[labeledsk8r]

thats the think there was a T mark and then a red line later on lol i got it timed on the red line, dont know if its timed correctly wont know till i finish getting the entire car back together

[ChuChi]

I just did this tonight (see https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55747). They're right that you need to line up on the 'T' and not the red line. I had it on the red line and it kept slipping to the 'T' when I streched the belt onto the cam. Did this about 3 times before I figured out that the teeth in the belt won't mesh with the teeth in the cam if it's lined up that way!!

[labeledsk8r]

I just did this tonight (see https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55747). They're right that you need to line up on the 'T' and not the red line. I had it on the red line and it kept slipping to the 'T' when I streched the belt onto the cam. Did this about 3 times before I figured out that the teeth in the belt won't mesh with the teeth in the cam if it's lined up that way!!

it matched up fine for me on the red line, i had the problem your talking about though at first but then rememberd i forgot to tighten the tensioner after a counter clockwise turn of 3 teeth, i will see what happens when i get the car together and try to run it lol

[Oldblueaccord]

might be a differance betweeen auto and 5 speed possibly or carb and FI where the marks are.

wp

[Jasonf860]

The Red line is NOT TDC for the crank! It is the timing mark! It's for a little thing called mechanical advance! The mark that needs to be ligned up is the WHITE mark with the T next to it! This is the same on all 86-89 accords... it may look different on manual/auto but they both have 2 colored marks. The red one is red for a reason! It means DON"T use it as TDC! Yes, your car will run lined up on this mark. I know, that is where mine was lined up. You have to advance your timing all the way and it will run, but it's not right! Now that you have this together, turn the engine till it lines up with the white TDC mark. Your cam will be off by a tooth, maybe 2. Now do the slip off method I described above and line the cam up properly. You don't need to take off the lower cover or pulley to do this, just make sure you keep tension on the front side of the belt and loosen the tensioner so that you have some slack.

[shepherd79]

boy you will have all kind sof problems. i don't think your car will even start.
Get yourself shop manual and follow instructions.

[HostileJava]

then slid the pully over it and hit the pully with a hammer to slide it all the way on and took at 1 inch chip outa the damn power stearing pully part dont know if its gona throw it outa wack

Did you do any work to the bottom end? New bearings or anything, cause you may end up redoing the work if your crank pulley isn't balanced anymore. You don't want to have to pull it all apart again. I'd get a new accessory pulley for the crank.

[Jasonf860]

boy you will have all kind sof problems. i don't think your car will even start.
Get yourself shop manual and follow instructions.

It'll start if you advance the timing fully. This is exactly where I had mine lined up at first. I drove it even like this! Then I realized that I had screwd up and fixed it using the "slip" method. Runs like a champ now!

[ChuChi]

It'll start if you advance the timing fully. This is exactly where I had mine lined up at first. I drove it even like this! Then I realized that I had screwd up and fixed it using the "slip" method. Runs like a champ now!

Crap, now I'm second guessing my fix Is the white TDC mark near the red timing mark? I think they were only ~1/4 inch apart on mine. If they aren't close, them I'm in the completly wrong spot

[Oldblueaccord]

no there that close. I think its 15 degrees white to red mark. You can make it up with the distributor for the time being. Look up you year car and type like I said I think there differant marks per flywheel type.


wp

[shepherd79]

if you take the distributor cap off and look at distributor you will be able to move the piston to TDC.