OK. Today I took everything off the front of the engine to access the broken belt. I got the broken one off and bought a new one. Tomorrow I will put it all together, but a couple things are bothering me, so I figured I'd get some opinions from the experts.

First, everyone keeps saying to just line up the mark on the crank shaft. I am of the opinion that this is wrong, you need to verify the #1 cylinder is at TDC when the marks line up.

Second, I looked it up, and they say the #1 cylinder is the one to the rear of the engine, all the way to the passenger side. However, when the cam shafts are lined up with the marks, the distributor rotor is lined up with the #2 wire (according to the numbers on the distributor cap) which leads to the FRONT of the engine to the passenger side.

Third, Since the firing order is (from what I read) 1,2,3,4,5,6, I am assuming that when the #1 is TDC, then the #2 will be at the bottom of the stroke, correct? If so, it would be easier to check the #2 cylinder since the rear ones are so hard to remove.

That leads to this...I tried every spark plug socket I can find, and none fit. What size socket do the plugs usually take?

Tanks for any advice you can give.

 

OK. Today I took everything off the front of the engine to access the broken belt. I got the broken one off and bought a new one. Tomorrow I will put it all together, but a couple things are bothering me, so I figured I'd get some opinions from the experts.

I'm no master but I'll try to help. Why did the belt break? Is it due to the water pump failing (very common).

First, everyone keeps saying to just line up the mark on the crank shaft. I am of the opinion that this is wrong, you need to verify the #1 cylinder is at TDC when the marks line up.

And the cam sprocket marks have to line up.

Second, I looked it up, and they say the #1 cylinder is the one to the rear of the engine, all the way to the passenger side. However, when the cam shafts are lined up with the marks, the distributor rotor is lined up with the #2 wire (according to the numbers on the distributor cap) which leads to the FRONT of the engine to the passenger side.

Third, Since the firing order is (from what I read) 1,2,3,4,5,6, I am assuming that when the #1 is TDC, then the #2 will be at the bottom of the stroke, correct? If so, it would be easier to check the #2 cylinder since the rear ones are so hard to remove.

No reason to do that, when you line up all 3 marks, the timing is correct. If you didn't remove the distributor, that timing will also be correct.

That leads to this...I tried every spark plug socket I can find, and none fit. What size socket do the plugs usually take?

13/16" one of the 2 most common sizes for spark plugs (along with 5.8")

Tanks for any advice you can give.

Sherman or M1 tanks?

 

It was just old and I didn't replace it as I should have.

Quote:

No reason to do that, when you line up all 3 marks, the timing is correct. If you didn't remove the distributor, that timing will also be correct.

But if the mark lines up on the drive shaft, the #1 piston could be at the bottom of the stroke, since the piston only makes 2 strokes out of 4 per revolution, right? I really don't want to have to do this twice.

Quote:

Sherman or M1 tanks?

M1 please

THANKS for your help

 

[quote=caraman;2398960]It was just old and I didn't replace it as I should have.




But if the mark lines up on the drive shaft, the #1 piston could be at the bottom of the stroke, since the piston only makes 2 strokes out of 4 per revolution, right? I really don't want to have to do this twice.


Wrong. When the mark for the crank pulley is lined up and the marks for the cam pulleys are lined up they are ALL correctly timed!!!! The crank shaft makes 4 strokes per cycle. that's 720° of rotation. when the piston is at TDC it's there 2 times in the 4cycles. But the cam only makes one revolution to the 2 revolutions to the cam. You seem to be someone that would benifit from reading the engine information on http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine1.htm Watch the animation of the engine moving and analyze the timing sequence in relationship to piston position. When I do a timing belt, I manually turn the crank 2 turns 720° and verify the cam marks are in the correct position. Also, don't confuse valve timing with igntion timing.

 

In the animation, the piston is at TDC twice during 4 cycles. Once at the beginning of intake, and once at the beginning of ignition. The marks on the crankshaft will align both times, since the mark has to come around both times also. So just lining up the marks won't be right, it has to be aligned at TDC during the ignition. Right? I am not confusing valve timing. I know that if the cams are aligned right, the distributor rotor will be ready to fire the #1 piston, so the piston needs to be TDC on the ignition stroke.

I'm not arguing, I just don't understand that point.

 

Yep, your right, I have no clue how to explain it so you'll understand. All I know is that when I've done timing belts, I just line up the marks as shown in any shop manual and it always comes out correct.

 

Thats is correct. Number 1 and number 6 are cylinder pals. So you will have TDC twice. Do NOT remove the distributor. The distributor is already on TDC when all the timing marks are lined up as 22dodge22 had said.If you need the picture on how the timing marks are lined up, send me a pm with your email address.

 

I know how the marks should line up, I have them lined up and ready to go. As I said,the crankshaft marks will line up at TDC on both the intake stroke AND the ignition stoke. It can't be as simple as lining up the crankshaft marks without checking. I don't want to do this again.

 

It doesn't matter as long as you did not remove the distributor. You didn't remove the distributor did you?

 

No, I didn't remove the distributor. If you say it doesn't matter, I believe you.

BUT...If I put it all back together, and the cam marks are lined up at TDC on the intake stroke, somebody owes me a case of beer.

Like I said, the belt broke, everything was thrown out of whack. The cams are aligned with the marks, thereforethe cams are where they should be and the distributor is ready to fire the #1. If the #1 is aligned at TDC on the intake stroke, I'll be very upset.