PorKen

It'll run with that much retard, especially if the passenger side is OK, it just won't make as power as is possible.

You'll gain a bunch of torque, and quite a few horses with the cams set to 'zero': ¼ -2°, ⅝ 0°.

Courtshark

passenger side, one degree retarded

Courtshark

and the verdict on the off one tooth issue...???

PorKen

My 'professional' opinion?











You're f*&ked.

Courtshark

so, now what do you recommend?

PorKen

You're going to have to restring the belt. While the engine is at -45°, and the belt is off, center the bolt holes in the slot, then use the 32V'r to check the belt/cam position as the belt is put back on.

I can't remember how many times I've strung a timing belt in all the testing I've done with the 16V'r, 32V'r, PKsn'r, etc. He he, hahha hah, he he. No really, I'm fine. If you don't pull the belt taught on the driver's side gear, then it's easy to get one tooth off.

IMHO, the fellow that did the belt said 'ferget' this, after reassembling the engine, and the marks didn't line up, and figured you wouldn't notice. I've seen a couple of other installs like this.

Imo000

I've seen thsi happen on other cars too. They try to correct the mistake as much as possibel, so they don't have to tear down the car again. The end result is......"it's good enough, he/she will never notice!". The logic was that since it won't burn the valves or cause any damage and only cost a few HP.... who really cares.......most mechanics don't.

Courtshark

So... I could put it all back together as is and drive it, gently, if I really need to?

Looks like I'm gonna need a tensioner... hopefully Roger has one for me.

PorKen... which of the member write ups do you recommend? I've seen a few. Thanks for EVERYTHING! You've been a tremendous and patient helper, and honest. All priceless.

Courtshark

So... if yours looked like mine... what did you do to fix it? I guess it was the same on both sides for you?

FRporscheman

My 968 was like that (cam gear rammed all the way to one end). Luckily my half-engine was no big deal to fix with just a cam adjustment (the tooth timing was alright).

I think you should invite some RLers over for free lunch and y'all can work together to fix that thing! It's easy when you have experienced helpers.

PorKen

You can button it up, and drive as before.

What's a 'writeup', and why would you need one?

How old is the current belt?

If you put a new belt on, leave the passenger cam alone, and set the driver to +1°. You should recheck the timing in a 1000 miles, as the belt will stretch and create ~2° retard.

aggravation

I'm no auto mechanic by any means and I just put Kens tensioner on my car. It was pretty easy, and for you it would be a great way to motivate and reward yourself to take the belt off and string it up right!

Imo000

Sorry if I wasn't clear, my cam gear looked like yours (not cracked) not the timing.

the flyin' scotsman

Mike..........to get back to basics and unless your super confident about holding the belt tension between the crank and the oil pump you have 2 choices; leave as is and know your not getting optimom performance OR do a complete belt re-route where you then have the choice to upgrade to Ken's tensioner and other WYAI's.

As I previously mentioned you need to get back to where the crank is at TDC #1 and the cam gears are correctly aligned then start playing with the cam timing and to get there probably means re-stringing the belt which is best done at the 45 crank mark so you can spin the cams.

Imo000

I don't know how much this will help but when I removed the driver side cam gear on Tuesday. The crank was about an inch away from 45 and when the t-belt came off the gear, nothing moved. I did pre mark everything for just in case and was ready to see at least the passanger gear to move but nothing did. If you can do the same, it woud be pretty easy to move the gear one tooth over.