Cam timing - How to

Stig · Jul 31, 2012

Put your hand or a piece of cardboard over the exhaust at idle - the pulses should be smooth with no hiccups
If it's not smooth the chances are 90% your cam timing is out

Here you see I mark the pulley and belt with a china marker to get a better view, dunno if you can see the other line but this was 1 tooth off before.
The ridges on the inner cover are a good TDC indicator - so not neccessary to remove the rocker cover, esp if you own a GTE

If you have the covers off, there are 2 marks on the cams which line up with the caps, it's also easier to hold or move the cams with a large spanner on the hex piece

I mark both belts and pulleys before doing anything so if something slips I can see it straight away, put a long nall on the cam bolt and visualise a line to the belt, then draw your marks.
Sounds easly/stupid but the rear cam is a pita to see properly and super easy to f/up

Bottom pulley must be in line, here you can see I marked both sides to get a better view

If one is out - loosen the tensioner and push it back with one hand while locking it down with a 14 ring spanner in the other hand (DON'T use open spanners, unless you like broken fingers and bolts),
then pull the belt upward between the two cam pulleys, this gives enough slack to move the pulley.

Clamp the other pulley to the belt with a small clamp or locking plier, peg etc.
Put a 14 spanner on the cam bolt and slowly pull the belt off the pulley
till it's off, keep it there while you move the pulley with the spanner to the correct position and slowly push the belt back on.

Hold the belt on the pulley while you undo the tensioner, leave it undone and check ALL your marks.
Tighten the tensioner slightly and then turn the crank with a 19 socket on a power bar, turn it 2x around in a clockwise direction (NEVER turn anti-clocwise, even if you miss your mark!)

RE-check your marks and tension, don't be tempted to remove all slack as this will wreck the bearings.
Loosen the tensioner and flex the belt between the oil pulley and tensioner to see the tensioner moving and not stuck - tighten the tensioner.

Turn the motor forward again 2 revolutions and check again - repeat if neccessary

The motor should now idle smoothly - if not check the timing with a light on the 10deg mark.
If the idle is still not even chances are you have a bad plug, rotor, wire, or cap - if not I'm afraid you may have a tight or dead valve/s, dead or blocked injectors, bad earth wiring, coil or ignitor/ecu problems

Hope this helps