cam gear off one tooth?

[TheRival]

I just replaced the waterpump/tensioner and belt. When i took the belt off i made sure to line up the dampener and the cam gear with their respective marks.

Before removing the belt, we were having trouble lining up the cam gear to its mark. it was about one tooth behind but we could make up the difference with the slack in the belt. now that we have replaced the belt and tensioner, it appears as though the cam gear is about one tooth counterclockwise off.

my question is, can i take off the belt and manually move the cam gear forward one tooth?

[Sagaris]

Sure you can do that. When I did mine I had both marks lined up where they belong, then starting at the bottom of the crank timing gear. I pulled up on the belt and worked counter-clockwise up over the cam gear as most instructions would suggest but eliminating all the slack and pulling up on the belt to slide it over the cam gear was the golden ticket for getting my timing belt on right. Im not sure if anything I have said will be helpful at all but im sure you will get it.

[TheRival]

so i just figured out my problem... Old belt had one missing tooth which resulted in the cam jumping a tooth... moved the cam forward one tooth and did the 4 revolution test and everything is perfect :)

My question is, did this do damage? the cam gear was retarded by one tooth. Will one tooth be enough to cause valve to piston contact?

[jlevie]

My question is, did this do damage? the cam gear was retarded by one tooth. Will one tooth be enough to cause valve to piston contact?

No. One tooth off isn't enough to cause valve to piston contact.