Timing Belt Help

[jmabarone]

Hey guys, Happy Holidays.

I've spent the past few days attempting to get my truck going after replacing the timing belt. I made the mistake of not planning ahead, so I did not leave the engine at TDC when I pulled the old belt. No bother, because I would get the crank in position before putting the belt back on...well, that was 3 days ago and it still is not running.

My dad has helped me the past 2 days to no avail. We have tried repeatedly to time it and it still will not start. Today, I tried it in 2 different crank positions (0 degrees and 360 degrees in a given 720 degree cycle) with the cam mark aligned triangle to triangle and the oil pump aligned diamond to diamond. It smells like it is getting fuel and it is getting spark...so we are all out of ideas.

not sure that it matters too much, but it is a '96, 5 speed, with roughly 140k miles.
thanks in advance,
Jake

 

[4b316]

You do have the crank on TDC,keyway at 12 oclock?Did you bump the crank sensor with the pickup?We had one we broke a tooth off the pulley.When you turn it over twice do the marks line back up?If it was running before you changed it,double check all the plug ins you unplugged.You plugged the MAF back in?

 

[schmoo]

the crank being 360 degrees off is not a problem.
it is the cam that determines what stroke you
are on, not the crank.

 

[feellnfroggy]

having the crank out 360* is a problem. It means he is not on compression stroke anymore, but the exhaust stroke. The crank must be on compression stroke at TDC in order to proper time the cam.

I just reread the last post, and he is right. The cam must be set for the intake and exhaust valves to be closed then set the crank to tdc. This is the compression stroke. Just remember to remove the spout plug, (i think the 96 had them) and adjust the belt one tooth one way and then one tooth the other direction (mark the tooth you started with. If you get more than 5 teeth and its still not starting its another problem.

 

[fordmike1]

Follow this link and see if it helps you. Good luck.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/530871/1989-ford-mustang/page-59

 

[Bryan22]

crank should be at TDC on timing belt cover, cam triangle to triangle and oil pump diamond to diamond. that's all there is to timing it. as long as the tensioner is tight and you didn't disturb either the crank or cam sensor, everything should be fine. like schmoo said, the cam is what determines what stroke you're on. as long as everything is lined up you've got it right. but you could've accidentally disconnected the crank sensor or something while you were in there. just double check all the connections are good and let us know.

 

[jmabarone]

alright, got a quick update after not doing anything to the truck for a day or two.

I FINALLY got it running, though it is still very rough. I realigned all the marks, pulled (what I think is) the SPOUT connector, and it coughed to life after a bit of cranking. It runs, but as I said, it is very rough. it is about as smooth as a 1 cylinder engine, and backfires a bit.

when I aligned the marks, the cam was on one side of the timing mark (above, I believe). if I moved it to the other side of the mark (below), could that make it run better? also, what I think is the SPOUT connector is a red wire (with a stripe) that goes into a connector, with a black wire going into a grounding block on the forward coil pack. Is that the SPOUT connector or did I just do something entirely unnecessary and it just happened that the truck fired then?
thanks guys,
Jake

 

[jmabarone]

It runs with a slight miss. It knocks a bit at idle and at throttle tip in, but not at higher revs. It runs the same regardless of whether or not I have the supposed SPOUT connector hooked up.

 

[jmabarone]

well, I'm an idiot. all the backfiring and knocking was from switching the #1 and #2 plug wires on the exhaust side. it runs great, thanks for all the help guys!