another 2.3L timing belt question

[delcamm]

Okay I know this issue has been beat to death, but let me ask anyway...

Replaced head and timing belt on 96 2.3 w/5 speed and 160K miles. Started well, idled good and all seemed well... BUT, NO POWER at low/mid rpms. I can rev it to 4500 rpms and its smooth and sounds great, and it will make 85 on hwy. BUt it just almost seems like it can't handle engaging clutch in 1st gear and takes forever to get up to speed.

I'm clear on which marks to line up, but if I line up the cam and oil pumps gears exactly with their marks, the crank pully shows about 4 degrees off TDC. I tried 10 times to adjust the teeth on the belt to get all 3 marks right but it simply will not. If I move the belt one more tooth either direction, it is even further off TDC...

Is it off or not? Can it do 85 mph on hwy and get about 22 mpg combined and still be off? Thanks for your help!

 

[ZackB]

I couldn't get all three of mine to line up exactly either. I got the crank and the cam lined up, figuring they were the most important, and put the oil as close as possible. I think the diamond on the oil pulley was just a little left, counter clockwise, of the mark on the belt cover. It happened to work out for me, good luck.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

the oil pulley is important because it runs the cam position sensor