Timing belt change? Options

[bdog_v]

Hi guys first of all I'd like to thank those responsible for posting the timing belt change write up it was very useful.

-I did this a few months ago and have been driving the car with no problems, it just seems a tad slower and mileage has gone down, but that may due to it being winter and having to warm the car up first.
-I have a 94 celica gt 2.2 liter

-I changed the timing belt and rotated the motor *without* the tension pulley tightened down so I the timing marks on the camshaft and crank moved a few teeth out of alignment. I went to realign the marks and started it but something was definately off. The car didn't want to rev up. So I moved the camshaft and realigned the marks a few teeth not sure which way or how many it was too long ago. *Next I started it up and it runs fine smooth, I did reset the timing back to factory specs. but it seems low on power and mileage.

-My question is how will the car run if the camshaft gear is advanced or retarded by 1 tooth. Will it be obvious with misses, slow to rev.? Or would it still run smooth just with a little less power and mileage like I have?


Thanks

This post has been edited by bdog_v: Feb 10, 2011 - 5:25 PM

[Spider77]

If you have a 94 shouldnt you just be able to adjust the timing by moving the dizzy?

[presure2]

yea, it will still run and drive.
its funny, some cars, one tooth off will hardly affect anything..to someone that dont know the car, it'd almost seem normal (but with symtoms like you discribe. my cousins car was an example of this)..others, it'll run like total dog doo and not want to move, or will loose power above a certain RPM or whatever.
if you pull the timing covers off, there should be a notch in both the crank pully, and oil pump housing line those up. and on on the cam cap, there is a notch that aligns with a hole in the cam gear. if your having a hard time seeing the notch because of the angle, use a small mirror and flashlight.
once that is done, you can slip the belt back on, check your marks again, then tighten the tensioner.
once you do that, spin the motor a couple times, check your marks again, and you should be good to go.

[bdog_v]

Thanks for the help, that is what confused me when I installed it, the marks would not line up perfectly center but a hair off the center line on the gears for the belt, it seemed that was the closest they would go so I didn't move it. One thing that may help is when I timed it to the factory setting which I believe is 10deg. I had to almost put the distributor all the way to the the stop on the distributor. In other words I couldn't turn it much farther maybe an 1/8" or so. Now should the distributor be more towards the middle of the adjustment slot for the timing belt to be in the correct position???? Its just a thought that may help me figure out if I need to tear that thing apart again.

THanks again.

Brandon

[azian_advanced]

i remember being one tooth off (can't remember if it was advanced or retarded) and the car wouldn't maintain idle and would just die.
roughly how much power (percentage-wise) does it feel you're losing? and how bad did your fuel economy go from what it was before (in mpg's)? the cold does all sorts of things to the car that makes it feel sluggish... cold oil = thick oil = more power loss... cold O2 sensor = more fuel dumped into cylinders... then theres the snow, the extra warm up time, and a bunch of other factors that come into play. just to give you an idea, my car does 23-24 mpg in the summer but does 20 to 21 mpg in the winter. the car literally gets tortured from the cold. a block heater will help your fuel economy a lot.

[bdog_v]

Well it runs just like everything is fine no pauses or anything. It just feels slightly slower than before but maybe it's me. However the mileage has me concerned I have this car as it gets good mileage and looks good, if the mileage drops I won't want it anymore and I have put a ton of work into restoring it. Basically it has been below zero for about a week now. This tank has idled for around 4-5 minutes for 6 mornings for a total of around 30 minutes idling. My car usually gets 28-30 mpg's. Right now I only have 1/4 of a tank left and I can't remember my mileage it's either around 160 miles or 260. I need to check as that is a big difference. I'll post actual mileage tomorrow after work!!!

Thanks

[bdog_v]

Well I checked the mileage today and I put 296 miles on 1 tank of gas. It came out to around 22mpg..... That is horrible..... It has to be mostly due to all the idleing in the morning. I would really like to hear from more people that have started the celica with the timing belt off one notch advanced or retarded....

Thanks...........

[Tigawoods]

im having a slightly similar problem