When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The car is a 2005 Civic Si Hatchback manufactured un the UK. I've been tracking down a noise for a few months (or longer, given all the different noises from the front of the engine). After doing that wheel bearing and then the intermediate half shaft to no avail, I could hear what sounded like a chain dragging every time I pushed in the clutch, particularly in lower gears. So, I set the crank pulley to TDC and removed the covers, revealing that the chain marks were one tooth behind where they should have been on both cam sprockets. The punch mark on the crank sprocket is hard to see with the chain on; I'll check my notes, but I don't recall seeing the same on the crank sprocket.
I replaced the chain and made sure everything was lined up correctly, turned the pulley to rotate the cam sprockets until it was/should have all been aligned TDC again, but the chain was one tooth behind on the cam gears. WTF? I reset everything to TDC again and closed it up because of weather and my shade-tree status; when I did so, with the cams all lined-up correctly and the chain marks on their marks on all three sprockets, the crank sprocket was slightly ahead of where it should have been. Again, WTF?
I'll go at it again this weekend. If you have any helpful info, please lay it on me. I'll post updates. Note: the engine has been pretty hardy, despite being ridden hard and put away wet (313,000 mi), and I did find a small chunk out of the exhaust cam at piston 1. Miss that bolt and you'll crack your timing chain cover trying to pry the thing off. Pretty clean for 300K Chunk out of exhaust cam This is where the chain was when I opened it up. Two teeth ahead of the punch mark on the sprocket.
Last edited by beersnob11123; Nov 18, 2022 at 10:18 PM.
Reason: Add pics
The K series are very reliable engines. I have seen the original timing chain in a 2007 Accord last 285k miles before stretching so much it ate through a piece of the chain cover.
Feel free to add some pics of the alignment. Keep in mind the crank turns twice for every one rotation of the cams. So one tooth off at the cams would be 1/2 tooth off at the crank. Meaning if you have the crank 1/2 tooth off the TDC mark the cam could be a full tooth off with everything actually in perfect time.
After rotating the cams (via crank shaft) eight times, this is where the chain lands. Note, crank is aligned w/ TDC mark and cams are in alignment. Which brings me back to the original question, "WTF?"
If your worry is the black link not matching with the dot on the cam sprocket, you've got nothing to worry about. They will only line up with the crank/cams again every ~170 rotations of the crank. The colored links are only there to aid with the initial alignment.
As long as the timing mark on the crank still lines up, and marks on the pulleys line up with each other and the head then you're good to go. Send some pictures of those if you want a second opinion. It may not have been off when you first opened it if you were only looking at those links.
That exhaust cam lobe is gnarly. Definitely recommend a replacement.
If your worry is the black link not matching with the dot on the cam sprocket, you've got nothing to worry about. They will only line up with the crank/cams again every ~170 rotations of the crank.
As long as the timing mark on the crank still lines up, and marks on the pulleys line up with each other and the head then you're good to go. Send some pictures of those if you want a second opinion.
Thanks, Brotato! Thought maybe I was losing my mind. Everything else is close enough to perfect...as close as it's gonna get.
Now to take my two steps backward and pull it apart again to replace the exhaust cam...
