bob441

Son thought he was right and cut the belt I have taken over.The engine has NOT been moved at all ,I think I should put on the new belt move the motor then take off belt and re time am I correct?? Or should I approach this differently? Please help and I have to put a radiator and plugs in so I will check back after that is done Thank you for the help

01acls

No, you cannot just put the T belt back on without realigning all the timing marks. Once the belt is cut the timing marks would of moved out of alignment due to the piston compression pressure being released from the motor, unless the spark plugs was already removed before the belt was cut. As a general rule anytime the belt is removed all the timing marks must be realign and double check by rotating the crank bolt manually to cycle the engine through one full piston cycle (4 piston strokes) with the plugs still out of course. At the end of the full piston cycle the timing marks should still be in alignment.

Get a shop manual and follow the T belt procedure to be sure you're doing it right. This is not something that you can just shoot from the hip.

swalch@stanford.edu

Ideally you want to get the crankshaft in a safe position before moving any of the cams. One safe position is with the crankshaft 15 degrees beyond
TDC. In that position all the pistons are down far enough in the bores that the valves won't contact the pistons. If the crankshaft is in a safe position the
cams can be moved using a strap wrench on the pulleys to line up the timing marks and then turn the crankshaft back to TDC and install the new belt.
Definitely have the spark plugs removed.

However, if nothing has moved the approach you suggested would work. Put on the new belt without moving anything and turn the engine by hand
till the timing marks about line up. If there is resistance there could be valve piston interference and you had better stop. If you are able to get all the marks
to approximately line up, then remove the belt and set the crankshaft in the safe position, reposition the cams and position the crankshaft at TDC and install the belt.

Hope that makes sense.

SuperGreg

How far off from being in time are all the marks right now?