I am in the middle of changing my timing belt and tried to line up all the timing marks.Cam gear and crank marks are aligned,I even turn the crank around til they lined up again.
The oil sprocket mark is 180 degrees off its mark from the factory.I have had no issues. Should I just put it how it is now or put it in time?

 

i would lean towards put it where its supposed to be

 

Thats what i figure but was wondering if anyone else came across the same issue.
No matter how many times I spin the crank,it will never line up.
And it isn't fun to turn it.

 

I doubt the car came from the factory with a timing mark in the wrong location. Before starting, you may have to turn the crank as many as six times before all the marks line up. Once they all line up, what I do is make sure the oil pump sprocket does not get moved again. But. since you started out with the sprocket out of time you need to do the screw driver procedure.

 

In the How to section they have a timing belt install and it says u have to spin the crank i think 3 or 4 times to get the oil pump to line up correctly. i did the samething the other day.....

 

I've turned it many times and when the crank is on its mark and cams are on theirs the oil pump mark is never on.I guess I will do the screwdriver trick.

Thanks everyone.

 

When you get the belt tight between the cam sprockets (I used two wrenches with a 2x4 stuck in between) and have the everything lined up, mark the crank sprocket and onto the belt. I had trouble with the belt wanting to jump a tooth there as I was adjusting the tension. Without having a mark there I wouldn't have known it happened.

 

Listen to this. You may need to turn the cranckshaft (not the cams) up to 6 times to get them all timing marks aligned. You can do the screwdriver to get the oil pump on time or you can also use the old DSM trick of seeing where the oil pump sproket turns when you let it go with the mark at the top. If it turns counterclockwise it is on time. If it turn clockwise you need to do another 360 deg turn and test again. You can google it for more details. It is a DSM trick that works on the Evo. Saves some time on the install.

 

Use those metal chip clips to hold the belt to the cam when installing.

 

Thanks alot for the tips everyone.

 

Cams, crank, counterbalance shaft, and oil pump must all line up as before. Pull the spark plugs to make it easier on you. Just don't turn backwards whatever you do.

 

Bingo. Whatever you do, line up the marks. It can be time consuming and annoying but taking the advice in this thread and the how-to thread, you should be able to do it correctly.

 

couldn't be said any better then this^^
line up you crank rear balance shaft and cams and take the belt off. Then put the oil pump mark at 12 o-clock and see which way it "falls" it should fall towards the crankshaft (counter clockwise) if it spins the other way, you are 360* off. Once that's set, check all your marks (for cams use 2x4 and small vise grips for the belt or a helper to hold in place) and put the new belt on. Then check everything again. Make sure you don't over or under tighten the belt with thr tensioner pulley.

 

Good info in here! Do not let it scare you though. 100 times easier than clutch install. I had no trouble with the balance shafts. I put the belt on exactly the way it came off. The mark did not move whatsoever.

 

The dsm trick wont work on the evos with low mileage. mine at 46k didnt fall back on its own. (This may have been caused by no oil in the engine at the time though?)