What could I have done?

[winsotaxc]

Changed timing belt tensioner serpentine belt and radiator. Flushed the tranny twice with the Gibbons method -- easiest thing I've done on the car so far. Shifts great, temp and coolant level perfect. Unfortunately it is throwing a check engine light and I am fighting a VIDA install so I can't check it yet. Seems to run good but maybe not as powerful as I remember (haven't driven it in weeks and have been on my motorcycle). If I got a tooth off on the cam wouldn't it run awful? What the heck could I have done?

Thanks,

Wade

[howardc64]

From the maintenance you did, probably a tooth off on the timing belt. From what I've read of people that had a tooth off, no one mentioned terrible performance.

Get the crank pulley timing marks lined up and rotate the crank pulley back and forth a little and imagine if 1 tooth off on either of the cam gears is a "better" alignment. From my experience, hard to get the cam gear timing marks perfect given they are quite far from the alignment marks on the cover.

[coflynn]

A while back someone posted a VMware image for VIDA which might work better, it's a huge download IIRC though. Haven't used it myself.

[kain]

From the maintenance you did, probably a tooth off on the timing belt. From what I've read of people that had a tooth off, no one mentioned terrible performance.

Get the crank pulley timing marks lined up and rotate the crank pulley back and forth a little and imagine if 1 tooth off on either of the cam gears is a "better" alignment. From my experience, hard to get the cam gear timing marks perfect given they are quite far from the alignment marks on the cover.

When I did my timing belt I was off a tooth and didn't have any major performance issues but did get the CEL to light. IIRC there was a slightly different sound to the engine, barely noticeable, but it was "off". I believe I corrected the timing and then reset the CEL with my OBD-II reader and it never came back on.

You don't need VIDA to read a timing error code from the computer, any good OBD-II reader will do it.

[winsotaxc]

When I did my timing belt I was off a tooth and didn't have any major performance issues but did get the CEL to light. IIRC there was a slightly different sound to the engine, barely noticeable, but it was "off". I believe I corrected the timing and then reset the CEL with my OBD-II reader and it never came back on.

You don't need VIDA to read a timing error code from the computer, any good OBD-II reader will do it.

Thank you for your reply. Am pretty sure that is indeed what happened. Unfortunately I still have to fix it and have taken a couple of days off to take my grandson to scout camp. Now I am taking a day off to be away from working on it;-)

I was slipping a tooth on the exhaust side and couldn't see it clear enough. (Behind strut brace mounting bracket and it threw my eyesight off.) Made better marks and used an awl to get it straight but I must have messed up the crank mark this time. Was in a hurry Fri night and at one point I pulled the belt without backing off the VVT first. Doh!

Have read two different instructions. What I was doing was moving the cams 1/4 turn past the marks, then turning CCW to line up the marks before changing the belt. Have read that you should back off 1/4 turn, install belt, go CW 1/ turn and confirm that it is correct. Actually installing the belt with things 1/4 turn CCW from TDC. Does it matter which way you do it?

The other thing I am curious about is the tensioner. I tension, turn, tension again until it stays consistent on the mark at TDC. However, there is a point in the rotation where there is a touch more slack then at TDC. Should the tensioner be set correctly at TDC or at the most slack part of the rotation?

Thanks,

Wade