Hey guys I'm hoping you guys can give me some advice. I'm currently doing my clutch job but taking my time. My car broke down in October and I recently just took the transmission off. So now I'm shopping and doing info on what clutch to go with.

Last night I was watching a brief video how to doing a timing belt for the car because I'm already half way there. The video showed where the timing marks on the cam gears, so today I go to spin the motor and it felt like it didn't want to turn. So I thought maybe the spark plugs where causing it to be a little harder so I pulled them. It made it easier but it doesn't have a nice flowing moment.



Here's the what the marks are at as of 30 minutes ago. Am I ducked?(iPhone)

 

When your car broke down did the engine stop running or have any problems or was it broke down for clutch issues? Def off a tooth on the intake side.

 

Nope. The clutch pedal fell to the floor and I pulled over. About 10 minutes later I shut the car off.... The car has been running fairly strong and I have no clue if I've been driving it like this since I've had the car. How do I adjust it back?

 

The sound of how it idles. Been like this since I've owned the car

 

Pretty much like your doing a timing belt job. Lock gears in place with timing marks matched up when you do.

 

Does the vacuum always fluctuate like that on your gauge? Def has symptoms like its a tooth off.

 

Yeah. I figured it was because its mechanical.

So which one do I adjust??

 

Im gunna say your car has aftermarket cams based on how it idles. Im confused, are you currently in the middle of changing the timing belt, or are you getting ready to do it?

 

I'm in the middle of hanging my clutch really. But I was curious about my timing marks and read some info, looked at pictures, and watched a few videos. I'm going to pull the valve cover off and see what kind of cams I have.

Edit: Just pulled the valve cover off. It's confirmed I have stock cams.

So I'll have to tackle the adjustment this weekend. To get it out the way...

I won't know for sure which one is off until I can see the crank mark lines up, correct?

 

I've NEVER heard a stock evo sound like your car...hmmmm.

 

I have a crazy thought....instead of pulling the timing belt and all necessary stuff, could I just pull the cam gear and rotate it and then line up the dowel from the cam shaft?

 

If you confirm that the crank is at TDC you can do what you're thinking to save yourself a bit of a headache. Zip tie the belt on the cam gears, release tension on the belt with a tensioner tool, put a crescent wrench on the intake cam, clip the zip ties on the intake cam, rotate cam with gear attached back one tooth, add tension back, turn the motor by hand and recheck tdc. As long as the belt doesn't slip off the crank, you should be good.

 

Nope. The cam is indexed by the dowel. You have to relieve tension off the timing belt and move the intake cam back a tooth. Still not convinced you have stock cams, may been stock cores but theyve been reground. Your car lopes way too hard to be a tooth off.

 

its gonna have to come apart. for one, you have to rectify the alignment issues, check the dots under the cover and sleep well at night. number two is to check the tensioner and this is a big one. something caused the skip and if your tensioner is shot it's time to change it. trust me a soft or leaking tensioner will cost you thousands later. when thats all said and done do a compression test to see if any valves got dinged buy you rotating the motor over. especially is you spun it backwards. sorry to be bad cop here but accessing components on these cars isn't exactly easy and one thing i have found is they usually give you a clue before they explode.

 

I don't know man. They look stock to me. The valve cover bolts still looked like they weren't touched. It's sounds good though. Hahaha.