brandon`

over the weekend i changed the timing belt/balancer belt, water pump and tensioner...everything is back together and running. tdc was verified using the arrows and horizontal marks on the cam gears, balancer shaft and oil pump. what i was not sure on was the crank pulley. to the best of my ability i put the key facing straight up, then put everything back together. something is different with the car though, the exhaust is a bit louder and it feels like its under a load....such like im towing something very light or like the emergency brake is applied just a bit. is there any way to check timing with a light or by computer? its a bitch to tear everything down just to eyeball it, but i would do it again if i had known 100% that the timing is slightly off and i can correct it. any help is appreciated.

4bidden

The easiest way to do it would be to take off your valve cover then pull the plug on the transmission right by the engine code. Then jack the drivers side up and rotate the crank pulley until the TDC mark on the flywheel is at the correct spot, then check the cam gears are also lined up. Its easier to line up the flywheel since its a larger diameter so you have less chance of being off.

Also, there is a dot on the edge of the lower timing gear that points to an arrow on the block for TDC. I've always used the flywheel method though.