timing a 4g63. NEED HELP

[Luminatorz34]

ok, im timing my 4g63 according to vfaq. but im seriously stuck on this thing now. vfaq says to use the timing marks on the crank sprocket and oil pump to the case. which i did. oil pump is fine, but the crank is what im worried about. i put the crank on its mark and put the belt on and such. but vfaq says on this timing mark cylinder 1 should be at tdc. but its a few inches from being there. and now im clueless as to what to do. i put it together like that, and turned it over. it feels as though its building good compression and doing its normal lil compression pops when valves open and such. but it could still be soooo far out that it wont even run as is. i just need help asap. i thought id ask, cuz this was wayyy too simple to put on. i know bryan (belittle) did my laser and it took him 3 tries. but me doing it in 30 seconds? seems to good to be true. heres a pic of the notches im talking about

[sLoWnStEaDy]

one of my cars (cant remember which at the moment) had the same thing going on. the crank mark was not even close to the mark on the engine. personaly i dont use timing marks on cranks anymore, i pull the #1 spark plug and stick somthing into the plug hole. I usually use a wooden dowel(sp?) with a round end, stick it in #1 hole and turn the engien over by hand until it extends all the way out and starts to go back in a tiny bit, i then turn it the other way a little bit until the dowel is at the furthest point out. then you know 100% it is TDC

thats how i did the timing on the fiero, and you heard it run yesterday so you know it works

hope that is somewhere close to helping.

[sLoWnStEaDy]

Hey, i PM'd you something.

[Luminatorz34]

hey thanks for that pm. EXTREMLY helpful

[TbTalon94]

You should line up both marks how they are and everything should be good as long as the CAM marks line up as well. The thing with the oil pump is if you have it backwards it will make the engine vibrate a shit load.

How you make sure it's the right side is turn it away from the mark, if it comes back towards the mark on it's own, then it's right. If it turns the opposite way of the mark then it's 180* off.

Belittle probably had to do it 3 times because it's tricky getting the CAM marks lined up after you tension it.

-Trevor

[Luminatorz34]

oh. i forgot to mention. i did a balance shaft removal. so its pretty much get the cams and crank set then go right?

[rysbrnr]

oh. i forgot to mention. i did a balance shaft removal. so its pretty much get the cams and crank set then go right?yup just cams and crank. The part that gets a lot of people is setting the exhaust cam. Once you line up the crank at TDC, you do the cams. When you get the intake cam set up, you can leave it at it's resting position, however the exhaust cam likes to sneak back a tooth sometimes so you may have to get your wrench and turn it CW just a hair when strapping the belt on. If you ever remember removing a timing belt from the motor, you'll notice that once the timing belt is loosened, the ex cam will click back a tooth... so naturally you'd want to turn it forward just a hair when slapping a new belt on.

If you're off by just one tooth on the ex. cam the car will still run and start up like normal...but it just won't seem to run hard like it should. Symptoms vary, but I hear people say it's hesitates in some spots mid-band and can feel like it's pulling back timing there. I haven't put mine one tooth off like that before so I can't verify what happens for sure.

hope this helps.

[TbTalon94]

If you get it off by just one tooth it does just run like crap. Most of the time. It will start up and idle but just won't run right.

[Luminatorz34]

but how do i time it? do i set it to where i have the cylinder 1 on tdc? or do i set it to where the mark on the crank sprocket lines up with the mark on the case??

[rysbrnr]

You set it where piston 1 is at TDC. Use a long screwdriver or dial indicator to get true TDC for #1. Also, your timingmark shouldn't be way off like that. Make sure you have that plate (the one on the crank with the little notch on it) on correctly. It can be installed either way but only one way is correct. If it's on incorrectly you'll have to remove the crank sprocket and flip that plate around.... then you're timing mark should line up while having #1 at TDC.