Hey guys. So just my damn luck, I was in the middle of changing out my water pump and timing belt. While I was at work on Friday, a buddy of mine said he would help get it all together and buttoned up. Well long story short he said the timing is all jacked up. So I went to take a look at it and both of my cams are misaligned as well as my crankshaft. I tried putting the timing belt back on and aligning everything back up that way, and I was able to turn the crank 1 1/2 rotations and then it would stop completely. I didn't turn it anymore so I wouldn't damage anything. I think he may have started turning the camshafts themselves. Is there a way to realign my timing without taking anything else off?

 

Holy toledo! Sounds pretty spooky, crank and cams definitely way out to the point valves contacting piston tops. I would consider pulling the spark plugs at this point to reduce compression and better enable you to "feel" when you have contact. There are some markers on crank and cam, do you need PDF?

 

I know about the markers on the crank and cams. My question for your response would be, if I pull all the plugs will that reduce the pressure of the valves? If so, how do I get my cams lined back up correctly while avoiding any damage?

 

Do you have a pdf for timing the cams correctly after something like that has happened?

 

Here ya go...

 

The 3.5 can be tricky to get everything lined up. When you release the tensioner the passenger side will always appear to be off when you have hand cranked it.
This is due to slack in the belt being pulled taught, which throws that pulley out of alignment.

1: Get all of the gears/pulleys where they should be.
2: Put the belt in place and put wedges of some kind under the crank pulley so that the belt cannot jump there. You do not need tight fitting wedges, just snug fitting, because all that you are doing is making sure that when the tensioner is released, that the belt does not jump at that pulley.
3: Put another wedge in at the drivers side camshaft pulley so that the belt can not jump there.
4: Position the passenger side pulley and belt the that best you can on the passenger side pulley and then release the tensioner.
5: Hand crank the engine 2 revolutions to be sure.
6: The passenger side pulley WILL be off by 1 or 2 teeth, but that is expected.
7: Put the wedges back in place on the crank and the drivers side cam.
8: Look at the passenger side pulley and the belt there. If you pay attention you can see what tooth the pulley should be at on the belt for it to be properly timed. Mark that spot with a paint pen on the belt.
9: Carefully turn the passenger side camshaft slightly clockwise while holding the belt so that it has no slack so that when the tension is released the passenger side camshaft pulley and the mark you made on the belt will line up. Place a wedge in the passenger side pulley to keep the belt from jumping there.
10: Reapply tension and then remove the wedges. When you hand crank the engine this time, everything should line up perfectly.

 

Great! Thank you!

 

I added a bit more to my post, so refresh the page. A few small details were left out, but have now been added.

 

Yes some good info from Bili8TheAxe for sure. In addition to the wedges, I also make use of large "clips" used to hold office papers together to keep the timing & serpentine belt on the pulleys, can be a real lesson in patience to have everything lined up then lose it when a belt slips at the last minute. Good luck!