well, im about tired of no one in my house listening to me[:@] I recently had to replace my water pump, just 2 days ago actually, and my step dad wouldnt listen to me. When we took off the timing he didnt mark the inspection plate thing between the cam gear and head, so it slipped time. Fortunatly it didnt slip with the engine running[&:] but now we have it back "in time" but i belive it is off a tooth because it has 1/2 the "power" it did before. i was wondering, is it safe for him to drive it, cuz he is gonna be using it to get to work for the next couple days. i am just really nervouse that this tooth difference can bend valves[&:]

 

If you're really in doubt about the timing, reset it before it's driven. It's best to do it right the first time or things like this happen.

 

If you have the 1.8 SOHC engine, the engine is a non-interference engine, meaning that you can spin the engine over without the timing belt even attached and it will not hit the valves. The DOHC engine will hit the valves if the belt breaks, but it won't with one of the cams just off by a tooth.

You can drive it with the cam off a tooth, but power will be seriously affected. It will also raise engine temperatures, since the engine has to be operated at a much large throttle opening in order to achieve the same level of power. This puts the engine into the power enrichment mode, so power will be down, fuel consumption will be way up, and you will run hot.

For as easy as it is to align the belt/cam correctly, why don't you just pop the cover off the engine and set it up right? It would take less than an hour to do... Also - there is no need to mark the gear and plate - there is a factory mark on the gear and on the backing plate.

 

yea but the marking on the plate is not visible, i cannot see it, i was just gonna have him mark it so IF the timing jumps when we took off the belt(wich it did) we could put it back how it was. Also, i appriciate the info, but my stepdad is stubborn and already drove it. I dont think it is my cam gear that is off i think it is the crankshaft gears on bottom, so this takes more time because in order to align it properly, it is best to remove the tire, and this is a problem because i also have to remove the motor mount so i can get to all the pullyes because all the accesory pullies need removed in order to get to the timing gears/belt, and i dont have jackstands to hold up the car AND the motor[&:]