adjust timing 96 camry
 

My timing is saying 15 btdc and it supposed to be 0-10. Does anyone know how to adjust it back to 10?

I have the 96 5fse with the obd2 diagnostics

I got the timing to 10 by moving the crank one tooth clockwise past the new timing belt. took a while but quicker than i could find another way. maybe this will solve my idle stop issue. doubt it . by the way this camry ran before this with 3 teeth off at timing belt. it ran good but threw a cam sensor code.

For what its worth here are some things i learned from my experince doing the timing belt on this 96 camry 5fse.:

Always check the timing before putting the covers and engine mount back on. The engine did not stumble with timing being off a few teeth. I guess the ecm compensated for this but car showed other problems which i found out later. I learned this the hard way. On the bright side, I can now do the job quicker after doing it over 3 times.
after the first attempt and putting everything back together i got a cam sensor code, after taking it to get my North Carolina inspection.

the second time I was getting a timing of 15 not advanced after doing the timing belt. also sometimes the idle would just cut off. Still not 100% sure if this problem has now just gone away for a bit and they were not related. I pulled off the covers and upper engine bracket mount(a real pain to take off and on). I then moved the crank shaft one tooth forward sliping past the belt tooth, and timing went to 10 which is what it’s supposed to be for this car.

It helped me to lube up the threads for the two 14 mm bolts that go into the bottom of that aluminum v bracket that is the upper engine support. This piece must come off for the upper timing cover to come off. Its so tight to get a wrench on them because of the subframe. A 14 mm rachet open end wrench is very helpful for this job but your hands in there work quicker if the threads are lubed up. I had to wiggle the bolts with my two hands open ( a fist is too big to fit here) using my fingers with my body positioned at the front bumper.
For installing the v bracket, it helped me to thread the bottom bolt to the right without the braket and then marked the 14mm head position so when I had it with the bracket it was easier to find the threads in the block. its just so tight there and hard to see even without the bracket in the way. the upper cover just blocks view of everything.
The 3rd time was because I forgot to torque down #1 idler pulley. Well, at least i remembered and didn't have things fly apart on me down the road.

Thanks for all the help with my first timing belt job,


Pete

When doing a belt change after belt install turn the crank 2 times CW and check the marks again.

Repeat the process if unsure.

The belt and cam pulley can move slightly when when the tensioner is released resulting in the cam pulley being off one tooth. Often the pulley needs to be moved one tooth one way or the other from the proper position so that when the tensioner is released it will now be in the correct position.