Hi guys, have started on timing belt. Got the crank and the front cam lined up perfectly. The rear cam though seems to be off by a tooth though. This would be from whoever previously did the job. Haven't taken the old belt off yet. I have only had the car for about 3 weeks. It's seems to run fine but has a small miss at idle. Would this possibly be the cause or would the misshap cause much more than a miss. I had an old bmw once and you could be off by like 2 teeth on that thing and still only have a small miss. I know it's an interference engine so I know you guys understand the need for perfection. Thanks

 

Quite possible, if the rear cam is off compared to the front cam, you would have an entire cam not synced, (valves opened or closed slightly more than normal would introduce intake air sooner or later the same with exhaust causing problems.
It might be the cause just be prepared if it isn't.

Oh and adjust your valves while you're at it!

 

ck the diy pics..the cams move slightly when tension is released
you have to move them back before install

see also diy egr port cleaning

how many miles on this engine,,why do you suspect belt changed before?

do replace water pump while you are there
suggest all new tensioners and roller pullies,,you know failure of one will destroy the engine

 

Haven't released the tension yet. Belt is still on. Crank lines up, front cam lines up, rear cam off by a tooth. Car has 198,000 so I think it would be safe to say that it has been changed before at some point. Water pump and all pullies are also being changed.

 

you would be surprised to find the tbelt may be OE,,many owners run them well past the 7/105 limits without knowing.. or concern
fsttyms1- our megamoderator- went 200 on his- and it was still looking great on the inner side

look at bolt heads on cover bolts for tool markings/wear/missing paint etc
even bolts not the same torque are a clue someone has been there before--
from the factory all bolts in a sequence will be the same exact tightness by a machine that installs and torques them

to think it ran the last 100kmiles with timing off a tooth is hard to believe
ck the gen2 and gen3 diys..as said before gen3 has awesome pics with circles and arrows and torque specs for every bolt

miss at idle = run seafoam or bg44 to clean internals and injectors
install new correct ngk iridium ix plugs,,if those really have 100 since last 105--they are toast
adjust valves--definetly a few off by now and will cause a miss..due every 105
the book doesnt make it clear that `adjust as needed` means a full adjustment with the ones off spec getting an adjustment

it has nothing to do with `if you can hear them when running` those would be so far off spec it would barely run !

 

remember the egr port and passage diy while manifold off to get to valve adjust
will cause many freaky problems
needed every 75kmiles to keep flow correct

 

IIRC, when I did my TB (CL-S6) I distinctly remember observing the rear cam marks being off 'slightly' (not a whole tooth) as I brought the engine to TDC after loosening the crank bolt. I knew the TB had not been changed, since I am the original. The only other time it may have been touched was when Acura fixed a bent valve, due to a tensioner malfuction, back in 04.

When I noticed that it (the rear cam gear marks) looked off at TDC, I just attributed it to the machineing at the factory, since the car ran fine up to that point.