Questions and Answers
Integra Timing Belt - A Happy Ending
Q. Vince, Thanks for responding. After checking my garage floor thoroughly, I found the key to the crankshaft pulley. I inserted a screwdriver in the spark plug hole of number 1 cylinder and when it was at the high point, I installed the timing belt to the cams. After I put on the plastic cover with the timing TDC mark, I noticed that the white mark on the pulley was a tiny bit off to the right. This was the same place that the pulley pointed to with the previous timing belt. (not the original) It seems to me that the tolerance is a couple of teeth on the belt as the piston in on the compression stroke. I decided to leave it as it was and put my car back together. The car runs great. Is there a tolerance of a couple of teeth? Is the piston method more accurate than lining the white pulley mark up to the plastic? If I was off a tooth, would I notice a performance degradation? I appreciate your service.
Sincerely,
MarcA. That's great Marc, I'm very glad that it worked out for you. I knew that the key must have fallen out when you took the pulley off.
As far as the timing goes, it sounds like you're dead on the money. There is no leeway as far as being a tooth or two off. On some engines, two teeth off will bend the valves. That would cause some definite running problems. A degree off is no big deal and rarely does everything line up exactly.
The reason I had you physically check the position of the piston was because I was not sure how much it had moved. You had the cams right and I wanted to be sure you had the piston right.
You did a great job and should be proud of yourself.
