How to reset timing marks after replacing a broken timing belt?

Many new timing belts have alignment marks on them that would be very helpful for you

If you dont know the marks on an engine when replacing the timing belt. There are usually marks on the pulleys and housings to line up. Put the engine on top dead centre TDC from the crankshaft marks before looking for the other marks. If you cant find them Use white out to place your own marks on the pulleys and housings before removing the old belt . To be sure nothing gets out of line mark any pulley that has teeth. It can be useful to take a few digital photos . When fitting the new belt make sure your marks line up again.

Doesn't sound good. Usually t-stat is on engine. Follow top radiator hose to engine should be located there behind a 2 inch dome attached by two bolts and radiator hose is attached to the dome.

Now subaru's can't handle overheating. Slightly hot as in got to red but shut off imediatly, will often blow the head gaskets. Got hotter than that will crack the heads. as in drove more than 2 miles near red mark on guage. or by adding water while hot also will crack them.

Broken fan belt? was it timing belt and bad water pump? if water pump age is unknown will need one of those too. and most likely timing belt and some pulleys.

Good news is you can't hit the valves with a broken timing belt on these cars. But the timing marks are confusing there are 5 or so on the center gear but you only use the one on the back of the pulley on a tab that is a straight line. Point it up at the mark as book shows. the other two marks are ok. Putting in the belt tensioner is testy so good luck.

Best price for all these parts are on E-bay You can save hundreds by buy the sets.

NOW REMEMBER (CHECK YOUR HEADS FOR CRACKS OTHERWISE ALL IS LOST) TOO EXPENSIVE TO REPLACE USUALLY

replace the belt with a new one, when you do the water pump,reset the timing and give it a start,if it works,then you can SMILE,if not, you can use the belt/water pump on the new engine.gotta be the cheapest way forward.......

A quick visual of the cams and valves with the rocker cover removed should tell you the amount of damage, if you don't want to go that route, and just want to try the belt, Take out a couple spark plugs to release the comp, pull the front covers, turn over the engine slowly, clockwise, till the timing marks on the crank line up, just 2 small dots, do the same to the cams, slip on the belt, the belt tensioner should be real tight to push back, then let it go, If the belt was on, you would just put the pin back in and pull the pin when you are done, Your tensioner might need to be replaced, but wait and see what else you got to deal with first, ok, belt on, turn motor by hand, anything crunching? anything getting tight? If you have the rocker covers off you can see the valves in action. I would spin it around a couple dozen times by hand, checking the timing marks, make sure they line up each time, and if all sounds good, put it back, but if you hear the slightest crunch, knock, thud, you have major damage. and running the engine will only make it worse, you will have to pull the heads, get them fixed and check the tops of the pistons, make sure there isn't holes in them. One of the first things to give would be the cams, they shatter pretty easily. Hope this helps.

Timing Belt "Marks"?
CLICK on the following LINK. It has the Timing Belt Mark(s) Diagrams you will need.
If you would: Before Clicking: Let me know if this helped you, or if you have any additional information or questions. Feel Free to contact me at FixYa.com!


http://www.2carpros.com/car_repair_information/year/1997/make/toyota/model/camry/1997_toyota_camry_timing_belt_diagram_marks.htm

3-7 degreese before top dead center. find your timing mark and mark it on the harmonic balancer mark it with chalk or white out. then unplug (not sure if the excels have a vacuum line on the distributor or a spark output wire (single wire you can break the connection on))loosen the hold down bolt (not take out) and rotate the distributor counter clockwise to advance or clockwise to ****** it. lock down the bolt and hook the vacuum line / wire back up.

I hate to be the barer of bad news, if your timing belt broke, you will probably need to replace the heads also. Not a small job. When a timing belt brakes the timing is out (of course) and when that happens the valves hit the piston and bend. So remove the water pump belt, a/c belt and the alt. belt. you will have to remove the harmonic balancer through the right wheel well. Before you remove this make sure number one piston is at the top of the cylinder. Then unbolt the black plastic timing belt cover, clean all the debris out. When this is done check the all the pulleys in there to see if they are nylon or metal, if they are nylon replace everything (nylon cracks over time from stress). Once that is done you will have to remove the heads to check for valve damage. If damaged you will have to get new or used heads or have yours rebuilt.

If your timing belt belt broke, you have damaged the valves and the cylinder head will need to be removed and rebuilt, or replaced.

the bad news is that you have what is called an "interferance" engine, that means, when the timing belt breaks or slips the pistons go crashing into the valves, you are going to have to pull the head and check for damage before putting a new belt on it, as for the timing itself, there should be small marks on the pulleys and block to align the timing.