1997 Camry LE V6 1MZ-FE rear cam timing mark.
 

1997 with 245,819 miles. Good compression, very negligible oil usage, butter sooth tranny & outstanding chassis/interior.
Previous owner "stated" that the water pump & ALL belts replaced @ 210,000 miles. Took ownership @ 230,000 miles.
Water pump shaft seal started leaking @ 245,000 miles. At tear down, confirming timing mark alignment event, noticed crank sprocket mark & front sprocket timing mark in perfect sync.
The back cam sprocket, not so much. Sprocket mark was line up to the left of the painted mark on another "divot."(SEE PIC). The "OEM" divot, clearly seen in pic, was two teeth to the right of "perfect sync"(?).
Being a 1st time Camry owner, never had the opportunity to compare to another V6 performance. I always thought the engine "vibrated" with a resonance & underpowered but no opportunity for comparisons to validate susceptions of "less than".
Also, during teardown, discovered 2 bolt & a stud cross threaded, water pump with no markings (not OEM), power steering belt close to failure & timing belt with fractures.
Question before me, Determinizing procedure to which timing divot (2) and or painted mark to set to as absolutely correct.

Red arrow denotes sprocket timing alignment @ teardown. Black arrow is painted mark. Green arrow denotes the factory timing mark(?)

Has anybody come across this before? Need some good advice here. I'm a very capable mechanic with the tools & I've done extensive searching on the site & but apparently this is an uncommon situation.
Please help.
Thanks in advance.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cam...948ada2e0e.jpg

See private message.

OUTSTANDING!
Thank you very much. The clarification belayed the anxiety of moving forward in repair.
Will also do a #1 cylinder TDC to validate but confidence is high that you provided the "missing piece" in reaching the correct determination in procedure.
No doubt that the previous initial repair/replacement was not done by a Toyota service center but by a scrupulous auto garage looking to slight the previous owner. (A widowed senior citizen).
All "consumable" components in affected area to be replaced with Toyota OEM parts, broken or not. Holes/bolts re-tapped along with proper torque values. (Existing values were way over torqued.)
Anticipating another 500,000 miles of duty or, or a couple of thousand if my teenage son receives as graduation gift.
Again, thank you & if you are ever in NE Texas, look me up, I'll buy you a burger! lol

Glad to help!

No more EGR issues, no alarm. Acceleration crisp & fuel milage greatly improved. No more "shutter" & the resonating vibration & backfire @ heavy accel, gone. BUTTER SMOOTH!
Determined the rear bank of cylinders were 4deg advanced as compared with the correct timing of front bank.
Again, Thank you.
Gotta buy you a burger if ever in NE Texas.

Happy to hear it is fixed! Toyomoho is the best!