Soooo been havin troubles gettin my neon to fire right... i had just put the engine back in after an overhaul, new gaskets, clutch, etc... i finally got pissed and stuck pulled the plug from cylinder 1, stuck a screwdriver inside and turned the crank till the piston was top dead center.... checked my cam and couldnt see the timing mark.... soooo i assumed i need to crank it again and put in on top dead for the next stroke because that could have been the wrong stroke for the timing marks to align....

When i got the piston to top dead center again, i looked at my cam, and my timing mark was off by 1 tooth.

I dropped the passenger side of the motor and got it tore down and just as i had assumed my mark was off by one tooth.

Im in the process of adjusting the timing belt again lol and going to check my marks 3 times before i put it back together lol

Soooo anyways once i get this bastard back together ill let you know if it runs right.

 

Gawd, I really think I might just take mine in to have the belt changed, lol. Good luck.

 

i think its recommended to be changed at 60k miles along with the water pump..... or maybe 90k.... one or the other. But im startin to hate this engine lol, i couldnt fire it up cause of course its 3am and i have a magnaflow exhaust with a 4 inch canister so its too loud to fire up and let run.. so gotta wait till 2morrow to see if its runnin right.

 

good luck, hope that is what it is

 

Oh, the water pump has to be changed at the same time? What a PITA.