Tampa 928s

With 0 degrees set on Balancer how do you know it is not off 180 degrees. One post states after setting for 0 turn over balancer 1 7/8 turns clockwise and go to 45 degress and mark. My other notes state just go to 45 Degrees on balancer not to turn it over 1 7/8 times which is correct?

Bill Ball

If the belt is still on, look for the timing mark on the cam gear through the timing belt cover vent hole. But, honestly it doesn't matter at all. The crank rotates the same on the exhaust as the intake stroke. If you happen to be 180 degrees off, after you lock the crank at 45 degrees, you can turn the cams to 22 degrees before TDC - about 3 cam gear teeth before TDC - or you can just leave them alone. What matters is that on one of the two crank rotations, both cam gears and the crank hit TDC at the same point.

Garth S

True TDC is with piston #1 at the top of the stroke, the balancer at the O/T index, and the two cam gears dead on the index marks.
On an interference engine, it is recommended to lock down at 45 deg BTDC before TB removal ... that being 45 deg Before TDC = 1/8 rotation : To achieve this, rotate the crank 1 7/8 turns from the only meaningful reference you have, which is TDC.

Bill is correct; however, for the many who have never done this previously, it has proven to be far easier on their psyches to be able to avoid cranking the cams around a half turn later ( 7/16 to be precise ) when they realize that the index marks are off ... at least from the number of PMs I've had about the deal.