Would assume you want the port that was supposed to be the vent to be open to air. On some setups the vent is connected to a hose not the filter.

Make sure the cam pulley is not moving one tooth when the belt slack is taken out. Try installing the belt one tooth forward or back (as required) to compensate.

 

I went ahead and installed the VSV. I left the back vacuum port open as they both flowed air and I'm hoping it will vent just as my OEM vsv did. As far as the timing belt goes I think I got it right. it did have to do witht the slack in the belt but I still can't figure out why it was skipping a tooth. It had something to do with the tensioner, I think.
I am waiting on the lower timing cover now and should be able to update soon. I tried to fire it yesterday to no avail but I still have some vacuum hoses and a few ground straps to connect.

 

I have everything back in place as far as I can tell and I have a no start condition. I am getting gas (checked for wet plugs) and I have spark. What should I check next? I double checked the cam timing and it's good to go and it sputters a little and acts like it almost wants to fire, but no.

What next?

 

A sputter is something.

Make sure the EGR system is off but disconnecting the vacuum hose going EGR valve (large can).

Suggest you start over and check all alignments and timing.

Set crank at 0 degrees, No 1 cylinder at TDC on compression stroke.

Make sure the cams are installed correctly.

The valve clearance should be within range at this time as the valves should be fully closed. The distributor rotor should be within 10 degrees of the No 1 electrode on the distributor cap.

The hole in the cam pulley spoke should be at the top of its arc, you should be able to see the notch on the top of the bearing cap.

Check the plug wires in the cap for proper sequence/installation.

Make sure all the cable are attached for items such as the IAC valve, throttle position
sensor.

You want a hot spark, as in able to gap 1/2 inch.

 

the timing belt is off.......what in the HECK is wrong with this dang thing??? I turned the motor over several times both by hand and with the starter motor before I buttoned it all up. I can start it easy when it's cold but it doesn't run very good and the distributor is all the way counter clockwise. (If I turn it clockwise it dies right away.) What in the heck is causing that freaking timing belt to skip teeth? I have tried all I know how to do with the tensioner and like I said - it wasn't skipping teeth until I got it running on it's own.

 

The engine does start then but runs poorly?

You best bet is to find a timing light, then using the Toyota timing procedure determine if you can adjust the timing to the correct amount by rotating the distributor. If not, something wrong.

The should be enough adjustment on the distributor to rotate it CCW and CW.

Once the tensioner is released to take the slack out it is bolted down and can not move. If the cam/crank pulley position is OK after the tensioner is released and bolted down. And confirmed by rotating the crank 2 times CW and rechecking, the belt is not going to slip.

It can happen that when the tensioner is released and the belt slack taken out as a result, the cam pulley rotates one tooth and is now off by one tooth.

And that once the engine timing is set the engine it will run rough for a time and take several restarts for it to run OK. This is something to do with the computer.

 

I've decided that what I needed to do to fix certain problems is just to post on here and then go try it. I was able to fix the timing belt problem and I got it goin. I set the base timming to 0` and it runs rough but I'm still messing with it. I noticed it has a funny "surge" it's slightly above idle. I'm still checking things out and I'll update with whatever happens. It runs and drives and doesn't die at stop signs but it sure does idle rough.....

 

good decision, please update us if that work on your part.

 

I set the timing to 10` BTDC as per All Data and drove it around. It still had a funny surge at the one specific RPM but it got around pretty good for having 368k miles on it. It ran so good, in fact, that I decided to drive it to Rock Springs (about 15 miles) to the part store to buy some exhause parts. Along the way it started losing serious power and refused to go accelerate. If I down shifted the RPM's would increase but the speed would not and the temp started to increase, but not into the red yet. I decided to pull it off at the next exit and pop it into neutral. Just as I did, the radiator blew and then it refused to fire after that. (It turned over but didn't fire) After waiting a day i could get it to sputter a little and fire, but it will not start. I am going to check the timing again and see if the belt slipped and probably check the cams again too. I also should mention that there was a knock or rattle at the higher RPM's that sounded like a lifter or rocker arm, but I know I have none of those. Any ideas what that could be?

 

Radiator blew, as in a major leak?

If the engine ran OK the cam timing should be OK.