In dire straights here. I was changing my timing belt on my 1999 Mitsubishi Gallant ES, 4cyl. and after I removed the belt I turned the crankshaft out of position to get the new balance shaft belt on. I had to get the balance shaft belt around the flange of the gear. Anyone ever changed a timing belt on this specific car?

I have the camshaft pulley lined up (did not move after removing the belt) and I have the oil pump pulley lined up (did not move). I am not 100% sure about if I have located the correct timing mark on the engine block. It HAS to be perfect. If the belt is even off so much as a single tooth it will ruing the engine (zero tolerance engine).

Please do not respond with guesses. I need someone who has actually done this on this specific car and is 1000% sure of what they are talking about. Thanks

It looks to me like the timing mark (? not sure about that 100%) is supposed to line up with the blue arrow side of the notch according to the angle the timing mark is on. Or are you supposed to line it up to the center of the notch (green arrow) or the right side of the notch (yellow arrow).

 

After looking on alldata that is the timing mark for the crank. Clean off the area a bit and you'll see it better.

 

I went ahead and went for it. I lined up what I had assumed was the timing mark (red arrow) and the left side of the notch (blue arrow) because these two lines become parralell. Since there was NO perpendicular line that would line up with the center of the notch at a right angle. It was the only thing that made since. I put it all back together and took a BIG chance turning the key and to my pleasure it started right up and runs and idles perfect. No Service Engine Soon light or anything. I must have nailed it.

So, for the Google spider in case anyone is searching for this information:

1999 Mitsubishi Gallant ES , 4 cylinder . Line up LEFT side of crankshaft pulley timing notch with the timing mark line on the engine block to make the lines paralell but in line with each other like this ----> <----- .

Before taking off the timing belt, turn the crankshaft with a breaker bar until the camshaft timimg mark AND the oil pump pully timing mark are BOTH on their marks. (At a cetain cycle, the camshaft timing marks being on do not coincide with the oil pump pulley timing marks being on. You have to cycle it around until they are BOTH on their marks.) At this point the crankshaft timeing mark should be lined up with timing mark on the engine block too. Take off the timing belt. You can now turn the crankshaft some to get the balance shaft belt up and under the flange on the crankshaft gear (pulley, whatever). You should not even need to turn it a full turn, only like 3/4 turn or so to get the balance shaft belt on. Pay attention to this. Mare sure you don't loose track of how far you turned it either clockwise or counter clock wise. After you gotten your balance shaft belt on, turn it back the opposite way you turned it to get the balance shaft belt on and line up the left side of the notch on the crankshaft pulley with the timing mark on the engine block.

Now after the balance shaft belt pulley mark is lined up with it's mark on the engine block (no picture for that one, sorry, the pulley auto aligns itself to the mark because it's wieghted that way, you'll see what I'm talking about), the crankshaft pulley timing marks, the camshaft pulley timing marks and the oil pump pulley timing marks are all lined up you can put the new timing belt on. And make sure there is no slack whatsoever on the right side of the belt that comes off the oil pump pulley and goes straight up to the camshaft pulley. The left side slack is taken up by the tensioner.





See picture in orginal post for the crankshaft pulley timing marks. Oh, and one more thing. Make sure your oil pump pulley doesn't turn around out of wack from where it was when it was in sync with the camshaft timing marks being on. Consult your Haynes manual. Before you put the new timing belt on, turn the oil pump pulley a little clockwise from it timing mark and see if it moves back by itself sort of counter clockwise to it's timing mark on the engine block. The thing is weighted. If it does, then it's still in synce with the camshaft. If you move it clockwise off it's timing mark and it stays there and doesn't move itsefl back to the timing mark on the engine, it's out of sync with the camshaft.

 

For anyone who may read this thread. You cant assume the oil pump is timed correctly when it appears it is like in the pic. There is a balance shaft behind the pump pulley that turns once for every two revs of the oil pump sprocket. If you had the belt off and turned the oil pump pulley you can feel it if you turn the sprocket nearly to the timing mark and let go of it and it turns by it self away from the timing mark it is wrong and if it wants to turn toward the mark it is right. Sorry I couldnt explan it any better Im a Mechanic. If you get it wrong it will have a mild rough idle and buzz or fast vibration with the rpms up.

 

Yeah, I explained this at the bottom of my last post. See text at the bottom of my last post:

Quote;
"Oh, and one more thing. Make sure your oil pump pulley doesn't turn around out of wack from where it was when it was in sync with the camshaft timing marks being on. Consult your Haynes manual. Before you put the new timing belt on, turn the oil pump pulley a little clockwise from it timing mark and see if it moves back by itself sort of counter clockwise to it's timing mark on the engine block. The thing is weighted. If it does, then it's still in synce with the camshaft. If you move it clockwise off it's timing mark and it stays there and doesn't move itsefl back to the timing mark on the engine, it's out of sync with the camshaft."

 

Sorry, I didnt see the bottom part.