Broken timing belt

[srdtrd15]

I have a 1994 2.3 ranger. The timing belt broke. I have it back on but I was wondering if it would run if I had the crank on on the exhaust stroke instead of the compression stroke. I lined up the cam with the mark but I know the crank can be 180 degrees out. I tried holding my finger over the #1 spark plug hole but it was hard to tell. I was just wondering if it would run being 180 out.

 

[Surrey]

If your timing is off it will run like crap. If it runs just as good as before then I think you got it right

 

[Snoranger]

I have a 1994 2.3 ranger. The timing belt broke. I have it back on but I was wondering if it would run if I had the crank on on the exhaust stroke instead of the compression stroke. I lined up the cam with the mark but I know the crank can be 180 degrees out. I tried holding my finger over the #1 spark plug hole but it was hard to tell. I was just wondering if it would run being 180 out.

If the crank is 180° out that would mean the piston is all the way down when the valves are closed to build compression. That wouldnt run at all.

 

[RonD]

The Cam decides the compression stroke and the exhaust stroke not the crank.

The crank has one TDC mark that is tied to cylinder #1, it means #1 piston is at Top Dead Center of it's stroke, rotating crank 180deg( half way around) would mean #1 piston would be at BDC(bottom dead center) of it's stroke.

What can be confusing is that this is a 4 stroke engine, so #1 piston goes from TDC(intake stroke) to BDC(compression stroke) to TDC(power stroke) to BDC(exhaust stroke) for one full cycle, so 4 strokes with two 360deg rotations of the crank.

The Cam, on the other hand, only rotates once during these 4 strokes, so there is a 2 to 1 ratio between Crank and Cam.

So as long as you line up the TDC mark and the Cam mark all will be as it should, I do recommend first time installers to rotate the crank two full turns after new belt or chain is installed, so start at TDC, rotate all the way around to TDC again(2 strokes), and then rotate one more time to TDC(2 strokes), now check Cam timing mark, should be lined up, if not you are one tooth off, readjust belt and repeat test.

The engine will run if you are off by one tooth or even two, but compression will be lower so you would have a sluggish engine.

 

[19bonestock88]

Just a little tip on re timing these engines... Put the belt on with the cam advanced a tooth... As the tensioner pulls out slack, it will retard the cam timing... By ONE tooth!