Need Timing belt help

[E30//MAN]

Ok, I've read many articles and so on, and found myself pretty confident on accomplishing this.

But, now it's time to remove the camshaft pulley. By mistake my distributor moved without the camshaft pulley.

Does anyone know where the distributor and camshaft pully are supposed to point to match? I see the mark on the distributor, and I see a mark on the camshaft pulley, but where are they supposed to point to?

Help, please.

[Old'n'Slow]

The cam pulley has marks that are supposed to correspond to similar marks on the head. Don't worry about dist. rotor or cap position-they only go on one way! Besides, the E30 doesn't have a traditional distributor that can be rotated to set timing. You take the cap and rotor off, then a black plastic shield, then the upper timing belt cover. The dist. housing bolts onto the timing belt cover. Is the upper timing cover off at this point? I think it needs to be to view the mark(s) on the head. Have you removed the belt yet? Set the engine to TDC before you remove the belt. Make sure the marks are lined up exactly. The crank's TDC position is set by a raised pointer on a lower removable cam belt cover. Good luck...this repair can get really expensive if you manage to screw it up! ;)

Changing out your water pump? How are your fuel hoses?

[RobertK]

Actually I believe the rotor button has marks on it and a notch that allow it to go on one way only. Everything else is pretty much the reverse of what you disassembled.

Just make sure you match the marks up on the crank and cam gears/pulleys.

BTW it's also a good chance to replace your cam seal if it's starting to seep. Very cheap and quick fix. I would recommend replacing it even if it's not leaking yet.

[Old'n'Slow]

BTW it's also a good chance to replace your cam seal if it's starting to seep. Very cheap and quick fix. I would recommend replacing it even if it's not leaking yet.

I think that's exactly what he's planning to do. At least, I hope he understands after what he's read that otherwise the pulley doesn't need to be removed to change the belt. Why else would you need to remove the pulley, but to change out the seals? :)

[E30//MAN]

List of things to replace while I'm in there:

crank pulley gasket
timing belt, tensioner and spring
water pump
radiator hoses (looked kinda spongy)
the other 3 belts

Good idea about the fuel hoses, hmm ...

Any of you guys know if the plastic head light covers inside the engine compartment do more good than bad?

[Andy]

The crank's TDC position is set by a raised pointer on a lower removable cam belt cover.

Does anyone have a picture of the lower timing belt cover to show where the TDC alignment line is located? My lower belt cover is not the one in the Bentley and the one I have seems to have two lines on the cover and I’m not sure which one it is.

I just replaced my timing belt, put everything back together and the lifters seem to be ticking a bit louder then it did before, I’m thinking that I may have the timing off by a tooth or so. I’m going to take everything back a part and double check the alignment and just want to be absolutely sure I’m aligning the crank properly.

Thanks.