Rep Power: 0

I changed the timing belt and all the other stuff in there. Water pump, the p/s and alt belts, timing belt, crankshaft seal, valve cover gasket, changed the oil and coolant, and checked valve clearance. I don't know how but the crank moved while the belt was off, maybe when I changed the crank seal. Lined up the marks and put the belt back on and put everything back together. The car started just fine and runs fine. I haven't checked the mileage, but the gauge seems to be moving faster than before.
Will the car run crappy if its only one tooth off? When I lined up the marks, the crank was dead on, but the cam gear seems to have a little room for error when it comes to it's marks, or is it just me.

 
Rep Power: 210

normally the computer will shut the engine down after a couple of seconds if the timing is off, thats what the crank and cam sensors are for,

if its running fine i would think your timing is okay,

on a side note.....i would recommend making your OWN timing marks using a permanent marker BEFORE you remove the old belt and use those marks when installing the new belt, that way you know its on exactly as it came off, thats the way i always do it anyway

 
Rep Power: 512

Wouldn't hurt to double check the timing. I've accidentally set mine off by 1-2 teeth and I got some shitty mpg and it just didn't feel right..

 
Rep Power: 518

My experience has been that "running at all" is 'fine' to some people.
For them, there is no problem until it "doesn't run at all".


Wouldn't hurt to triple check the timing.

 
Rep Power: 0

That's where I'm confused. It actually feels like it runs better than before the change. It's just the MPG The other part is all that work to recheck it, or am I missing something? Thanks for the responses.

 
Rep Power: 518

On a 7th gen, probably just pull the upper timing cover off to see the marks on the gear.

Set crank pulley to its TDC mark, then check where the cam marks are.

 
Rep Power: 210

for what its worth i think you are just worrying too much, if you say its running as good as, or better than before, then chances are everything is okay, especially if your not getting any codes or CEL on,

i cant see why anything you did would affect your fuel economy, are you sure its just not your imagination?

you can check the timing by removing only the top timing cover and aligning the crank pulley with the pointer on the bottom timing cover,

however i personally wouldn't trust this method, i always make my own timing marks to go by

 
Rep Power: 0

I watched a Youtube video after I did mine and they did the same thing. I have only gone through a half tank of gas, so I will wait and see if it gets better.
Do I have to undo the valve cover to remove the upper belt cover?

 
Rep Power: 210

well technically you don't need to completely remove the valve cover in order to remove the upper timing cover, but you have to at least loosen it and raise it up.....if it was me i would just completely remove it

what i normally do (before i remove the old belt) is ignore the marks on the crank, i turn the crank until the CAM is in its perfect TDC position with the "UP" facing up and completely straight over the valve cover,

then i make my own marks on the crank pulley and engine casing using a sharpie permanent marker, i find the crank marks on these engines are not always 100% accurate,

this way i know the belt im putting on is going on in the exact same position the old one came off

 
Rep Power: 518

That's funny. I find them perfectly acceptable.


So if it was already out of time when you take yours apart and make your own marks, you can be assured it will still be out of time when you get finished.


EDIT: I was not really trying to be a d!ck about it (even though I'm sure it sounds like it), but you have no idea how many timing jobs I've had to correct after someone else did the job as you described.

 
Rep Power: 512

This, really.. lol.. I usually check it once when setting it, once after I install the lower timing cover (using the marks on the pulley/lower timing cover) and once more for good measure. The crank marks do just fine.

Back to OP, last time I messed up the timing, the car ran "fine" with shitty MPG. Fixed the timing and it ran better with normal MPG. Pull the valve cover and upper timing cover, check your timing lines up all nice and pretty, fix if need be. Just recheck the timing. It's an easy check, quick if your timing ends up lining up nicely. I'd still set aside a couple hours in case you need to fix the timing.

 
Rep Power: 0

OK went back in to check marks and they look fine to me. But one tooth off is so easy and still be close with the marks. Here is a picture. The bottom mark is right on the mark.

 
Rep Power: 518

Which mark? There are about 4 marks. Gotta pick the correct mark. Only one mark represents TDC. The rest are for ignition timing.
(Just thought I'd make that clear for anyone that needs to know.)


After the crank is on the correct mark, I prefer to use a mirror and flashlight to view/align the marks on the cam gear.


The last pic looks closest, but the angle is still kinda bad for me.

With the short list of the work you described you did, timing being off was the most likely problem.
Could always be something totally unrelated to your work, elsewhere in the car too.

You have no proof of your complaint.
That's no way to go through life, son.

 
Rep Power: 210

hard to tell by those pics because im not sure of the camera angle,

but if we assume two things here

1 - the crank is indeed at TDC

2 - the camera angle is straight on the cam

then it appears to me the camshaft is out of time, it looks to me like the cam is one tooth too far clockwise when looking at the sprocket