Rep Power: 223

Hello everyone. Going to give brief instructions on how to check engine timing since I cannot find clear instructions elsewhere.

If your engine has jumped time (meaning the crankshaft and camshaft are no longer in sync) you will see poor performance, low engine power, misfires, check engine light. And that's if you're lucky enough to only have jumped a few teeth. If the belt snaps or the tensioner completely gives out you're looking at bent valves, an engine that won't start, and a lot more work.

To check timing follow these steps:
1: Jack up and remove the front left tire.
2: Remove the ignition coils and spark plugs.
3: Find the crankshaft pulley (behind the inner splash panel in front left wheel well). Using a 19mm socket rotate the engine counter clockwise until the timing marks align. Never rotate clockwise or you could cause it to jump time. This position is referred to as TDC (top dead center).

4: Now you need to remove the upper timing belt cover. To do this you need to either remove the valve cover or loosen it enough to pull the cover out from underneath. There are three bolts holding the timing cover, you will also have to unplug the camshaft position sensor.


5: Once that has been done you should now see the camshaft. Verify the timing marks look like the below.

6: If the "Up" mark is pointing down use 19mm socket to rotate the crankshaft counter clockwise one rotation until its mark lines up again. The reason for this is the crankshaft rotates twice for every one rotation of the camshaft. Once this is done the "Up" mark on the camshaft should then be pointing up. Verify the timing marks on the camshaft match the above.
7: If they do not match verify the crankshaft is still aligned properly. If it still doesn't match then the engine is no longer timed correctly and will need a new belt/tensioner. Do not start or crank until this is fixed to avoid additional damage. If the marks are nowhere close the damage may have already been done.

I do not have a car sitting in front of me while writing this so if anyone has any additions feel free to add.

 
Rep Power: 221

nicely done, stickied!