How to set the timing on the e430

IF you are just trying to reset the belt at the top and have not remover the crank pulley, bring the # 1 cylinder up to Top dead center on the compression stroke,. It will read Zero degrees on the timing mark scale.
look at the cam gear closely and you will see that there are 5 spokes which support the actual gear. Look closer and you will see that one of the spokes has a small hole in it towards the outside of the gear. Position the gear to where that hole is at the 12 oclock position . NOW, if you look thorough the hole, you should should see a small notch that the hole should be centered on. If not, move the gear until you can look through the hole and the notch falls dead center. At that point in time, you have the crank ant camshaft in perfect time with each other.
When you put the belt on, make sure that the side which is slack is the tensioner side. You should be able to slip the belt on, matching the teeth with the teeth on the gears to where one side is fairly tight and you can not roll the cam counter clockwise.

First pull the timing belt tensioner then slip the belt off the cam gears. You then need to find TDC (Top dead center). 3 ways to find TDC 1) There are marks on the crank pulley align them for TDC. 2) Remove timing cover and use crank gear mark seen in link below 3) Put the dip stick in cylinder 1 and turn engine until dip stick stops going up. After finding TDC align cam gear marks seen in link below. Now make sure both cam and crank stay in position and slip timing belt back on (you can move the cam gear to get the belt on but make sure the marks are aligned after the belt is on). Last tighten the belt tensioner, I usually use my finger or an extension to get some more tension on the belt. You might have to remove engine mount bracket makes life much easier as the front cover section is TIGHT !!!. Turn engine a few times to make sure you have compression and engine turns without getting stuck. See link below good luck.

http://bladeagenos21.soup.io/post/374487151/timing-marks-on-mazda-626-1994-diagram

Look at the where the timing belt is to go. The two gears will have a notch or line and so you make sure that you align them together. If the gears are dirty with caked on oil you should clean it and look for the mark, You only have one mark from each gear. By the way the gears I am talking about is the camshaft and the OHV. Good Luck

Bring cylinder # 1 up to top dead center! on the compression stroke.
Remove all of the timing cover from the engine and any other components that may be in the way.
Look for the timing marks on the upper cam gear!
Look for the marks on the lower crankshaft gear as well.
Look in a repair manual for the correct position of the marks of the gears as to where they line up with a notch, a dot,ect.
Make sure # 1 piston is at tdc on the compression stroke.
loosen the belt tensioner,and pry it over in the loosened position.Check the bearing in the belt tensioner,if it feels dry or rough replace it. Replace the belt in the reverse order.Follow repair procedure on belt tension.

The crankshaft gear has a center punch mark on gear and the intermediate gear has a line mark on gear. Rotate the crank until the #1 piston is top dead center. In doing so the crankshaft mark should line up with the intermediate gear mark. (crankshaft mark at 1 oclock and intermediate gear mark at 7 oclock). At the same time look at the cam gear and the small hole should be at the top and the two larger holes should align with the bearing cap. ((parting line should be looking at it will be 50/50 when you look at the front of cam gear). Remember to remove belt before timing engine correctly. Also make sure the negative wire is disconnected from battery before starting this job. Hope this will help you.

get the #1 piston top dead center, then line up the camshaft gear and the crank gear to line up with the timing marks on the engine after you find those marks slip the belt on making sure all the timing marks havent changed then check to see if the tensioner for the belt is set with the proper tension then check to see if the belt isnt slipping remember it will be spinnig at high RPMS

1- Make sure the piston # 1 at the top position. 2- Make sure the mark from the Camshaft gear, Crank shaft gear aligned in the straight line. 3- Put the timing belt in, and adjust the tensioner. Then you are good to go. This is called TDC Top Dead Center. Good luck

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?fromSearchPage=true&pageId=0900c1528008cef1&partName=Timing+Belt+Cover&partId=0900c1528008cef1

malibluert: YOUR IN LUCK! This series engine is simple and the references aren't hard to find. READY???????
IF you are just trying to reset the belt at the top and have not remover the crank pulley, bring the crank around to Top dead center on the # 1 cylinder,. It will read Zero degrees on the timing mark scale.
Up top, look at the cam gear closely You will see that there are 5 spokes which support the actual gear. Look closer and you will see that one of these spokes has a small hole in it about 3/4th of the way towards the outside of the gear. Position the gear to where that hole is at 12:00 PM. NOW, if you look thorough the hole, you should should see a small notch that the hole should be centered on. If not, move the gear until you can look through the hole and the notch falls dead center. At that point in time, you have the crank ant camshaft in perfect time with each other.
When you put the belt on, make sure that the side which is slack is the tensioner side. You should be able to slip the belt on, matching the teeth with the teeth on the gears to where one side is fairly tight and you can not roll the cam counter clockwise.
IF you are replacing the belt, you have the crank pulley off and you position the woodruff key straight up at 12:00 PM and the procedures are all the same other than that. when you set the tension. A good rule of thumb is to find the longest span of belt, and with your thumb and forefinger twist the belt. if it twists to 45 degrees toward the block, it's perfect. Any more or less, needs to be reset.
I hope my answer suffices. A picture wouldn't be any more clear.
Let me know how you did.
NOTE: This engine does NOT bend valves when a timing belt fails.

there should be an acid mark (black mark) on gear, and yes cylinder #1 top dead center ps. make sure to disconnect distributor so it dont fire