I goofed. I am changing out the timing belt, but didn't line up the cam marks when I took off the belt. Then I lined the cam and crank up, and tried to start it, nothing. Realized I threw off the distributor timing. So I thought I knew how to get it back in time, but am scratching my head now. I thought if the cam mark is lined up with the timing belt cover triangle, it should be #1 TDC, but I checked it and it's not. It's at the bottom of the stroke. Anyway, how do I line up the distributor again so it fires? Thanks for your help!
Did you remove the distributor? If not, line up the timing marks as per the manual and install the belt
Yeah so my cam and crank are both lined up with the marks. But since I took the belt off when they weren't lined up and then aligned them, it misaligned everything from the distributor timing.
You guys wouldn’t happen to know how to do this on a 94 Subaru sambar? My belt broke. I’ve replaced it but the crankshaft pulley has a single notch on one side and has two notches 180 degrees around. Which one do I go by? Also the cam gear appears to have just a slight notch on the outer edge. Is this the timing mark?
If you never took the distributor out, line up the marks, put the belt on, and you are good to go man!!! rotate the engine twice looking at the crank marks and recheck, if the cam is lined up, you are good
Unfortunately the engine has been turned over with the broken timing belt trying to diagnose a no spark issue. The distributor has been out but I put it back exactly like it was. Since the engine has been turned over with a broken belt cam the timing is all out of whack. My concern is which set of timing marks to use and exactly where the Mark is on the cam
I did this but it wouldn't start. I'm guessing because I rotated the cam and crank independently to get lined up it misaligned it with the distributor, right?
You probably would have more luck starting your own thread in the Subaru forum (if you haven't already). Good luck!
Unfortunately I dont have a manual for your vintage vehicle. A lot of import distributors will only go in one way, they have a key on the bottom that will only let it slide in the one way. Does the distributor mount in the cylinder head?
Typically the distributor keys in to the non-driven end of the cam, and can only fit one way. So, I would say, of the top of my head with no manual, that you don’t have the cam timing correct. And, you need to get it set properly. If you are sure the cam timing is correct, you can crank the engine by hand until the timing marks for where your engine should be in time are lined up. Then if you have a distributor with points, you can rotate the distributor body, until the points open, and the timing will then be close enough to get the engine started. I used to use a continuity checker, and rotate the distributor until it quit toning, and then rotate it back until it toned again. If you have a breaker less ignition you can do the same thing visually maybe. It is kind of hard to guesstimate where the signal would be generated to determine where the correct timing point is. Some set ups are easier then others, but most all are a pain.
Turns out the crank was 180 off. Didn't notice the tiny bump that's the mark you are supposed to line it up with. I had it lined up with the dash line. So it's running now, thanks everyone for the help!