I have a 95 camry wagon 4cyl

I am working with my crackpot neighbor to replace my timing belt. the old one was void of half of its teeth causing the car to tatally stall. Here is my issue. We got everything off and aligned according to the haynes book but it is still not firing right. It is barely running and it is very rough. We aligned the crankshaft to the "0" that is on the lower pulley cover and alined the cam shaft to Top Dead Center. The one issue i do notice is that the cam shaft seem to want to turn over on its own when we get it TDC. We just had to hold it with a wrench until we got the belt on. I have no idea what to do. Any help would be appreciated.

 

i've never done this before but maybe it needs some tightening (tension isnt great enough)?

 

Sounds like you don't have it timed right. Are you sure you have the cam at #1TDC? What method does the Haynes book tell you to use to determine that? The reason why i ask is that while at #1TDC, the camshaft is not under enough spring tension to cause it to rotate on it's own (as you describe). This leads me to believe that you might be off timing as far as the camshaft is concerned.

J

 

^^

He's right. Your one tooth off at the most. Anymore and it wouldnt even run.

-Jason

 

You can compinsate for a one tooth loss buy moving the distributor one way or another. Unless its a coil pack engine which i dont think the 95 4 cyl is. Also, you should check your tensioner pulley just as a precaution.

 

This is completely wrong. Moving the distributor will affect ignition timing ONLY. The engine (cam/crank) timing needs still needs to be in sync.

J

 

Joel dont say someones completly wrong changing you igniton timing will compinsate for one tooth because of the crank and cam shaft position sensors. the computer can compensate for 1 degree either way which translates into a little more than one tooth.

 

I said it was completely wrong because it is. A timing belt being off affects the mechanical opening of the valves- it will will either open too soon or too late depending on the position of the Tbelt- affecting engine vacuum/compression. You cannot compensate for that through the distributor period.

J

 

ok now i'm pissed off can you read moron. I'm a certified toyota tech. I promise you i'm right!

 

Oh NOW you've convinced me! Toyota Certified.... WOW! You really put me in my place.

C'mon dudes, talk to the other techs in your shop- and you'll find out that you CANNOT compensate for the mechanical mistiming of the Tbelt- with a simple adjustment of the distributor. Mechanical cam to crank timing and ignition timing are 2 completely seperate issues whether its a Toyota, Honda, or any manufacturer. I'm gonna print this out so the guys at my shop can have a laugh. [sm=laughat.gif]

J