alright. im having an issue with the timing belt. i cannot for the life of me get it on the engine right. i've done more then enough of these, but this one just doesnt want to stay correct.

these are where the two marks are:


when i set them the right way, the belt fits real loose on top. then when i turn it to tension it, everything is good, then when i test it and turn the crank 360 degrees counter clockwise it comes up looking like that above. can someone help?

 

Each camshaft sprocket is just behind by about 1/4 tooth. That should correspond to 1/2 tooth at the crankshaft. That may be as close as you can get. If you compensate by 1 tooth at the crank, then it'll be off by about the same amount in the other direction. Try it & see which way gets closer to ideal.

Has the head or deck been machined? Non-standard headgasket thickness?

 

stock head gasket thickness, but the head was milled.

 

Like they said in the other thread, most likely the belt stretched some. All the mark should like up, there is no "good enough" when it comes to the timing belt. Try a new belt and see if that will help.

 

i know on a lot of dsms the exhaust came tends to walk about a tooth when you release the tensioner, the first time i ever did one i couldnt ever get it to line up. i learned to set the exhaust cam a tooth off and when you set the tensioner it pulls it to where it should be. i know a dsm isnt a honda but maybe its something to that effect