Questions and Answers

Integra Timing Belt

Q. I have an 1987 Acura Integra with a 1600cc engine. I am changing the timing belt and water pump. I lined up the cams to the TDC mark. I removed all the parts to get to the timing belt. I finally loosened the crankshaft pulley. Unfortunately, I think it slipped. The belt adjustment was already loose. I am not sure if the cog behind it also moved. The pulley has an indentation like the cog, but can spin around on the crankshaft. The cams are easy. The up marks are point up and the inside marks line up. How do I install the crankshaft pulley and verify the crankshaft is pointed to number 1 TDC? This is equivalent to a timing belt breaking and the valves are not damaged. Please help - my car is in pieces.

Thanks,
Marc

A. Okay Marc, we have to be real careful here. What you need to do is take out #1 spark pug and physically verify that the piston is on Top Dead Center (TDC). Then look to see if the timing mark on the crankshaft gear lines up with the mark on the back timing cover. If it does, then you're set down there. There should be a key that locks the gear to the crankshaft. if that is missing, you will need to get a new one before you do anything else. That's why the gear and pully just spin on the crankshaft.

The key probably fell out when you removed the crankshaft pully. This is an important part because it lines up the gear and pully to the crankshaft. Once you have it back in, you can move the crankshaft the small amount it slipped to get it to line up.