Timing Belt not staying in marks

[Kami]

Replacing timing belt, water pump, etc. on my 2006. When I line up the marks on all the gears, set the tension, then rotate the crankshaft two revolutions, the marks are out of alignment. Can anyone help with this?

[avguy]

First off, how far off does the timing get? Any more than one tooth might result in valve-piston contact causing bent valves.

Are you sure you know how the pointers on the tensioner are supposed to look? Either they're not being lined up correctly (causing the belt tension to be way too loose), or else the 3 water pump Allen bolts are not torqued properly, causing the pump to spin and the belt to lose tension as the 2 turns are being done.

[Kami]

Thanks. Actually, the exhaust cam doesn't seem to be getting off at all, and the other one is probably one tooth but maybe a little more. I know how the tensioner should look, but I will reset everything again and double check the torque.

[petrified.rabbit]

I'm not going to say your right or your wrong, but if it is off a tooth consistently when you do it, advance that pulley one tooth before you put the belt back on and try that. I tend to do timing belts be transferring marks to the belt and NOT using a pulley lock system. And you definitely don't want to be off a tooth. But It is easy to turn one pulley while trying to set the other, if that is what you are doing you want it correct when complete, not on "step"

[xintersecty]

It's a damn pain in .....
Yeah I often found that putting the cam gears back the right position and the cam belt on difficult. Rabbit's technique is good one and I will do it the next time. I have the 1.6 and I have developed a couple of strategies to getting the belt back on.

1) I use vice grips to hold the cams in position.
2) The intake cam (close to firewall) naturally wants to pull down when it needs to go up to align the marks. So put a socket on it pull it up and then clamp it down.
3) If the cam is off by a tooth build that offset in when you put the timing belt on. Again the intake cam pulls while the exhaust just sits, I put a bit of slack on top of the timing belt between the cams before I put tension on the water pump. You will see the marks align up.

[06T200]

How I did mine.
On a car with no broken belt: On my first belt I had to count the teeth on the belt on the top and marked them with chalk/lime (on belt and on both pulleys) and transferred those marks to the new belt. Then I made sure to line up the marks with the marks on the pulleys. No issues.

On a car with broken belt: I used a tool to 'lock' the cams together with the marks aligned. This was MUCH easier for me personally, than walking the belt on multiple times. Don't be afraid to pull the belt and redo it till it lines up. I had to do this a few times on my first one as it was tough, I remember the intake cam wanting to roll on me.

[Kami]

Thanks, your suggestion about putting slack between the cams did the trick! I suppose it is the same idea as the previous post about setting the intake gear ahead one tooth.

[Kami]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Since these belts need to be changed more frequently than most, I will definitely benefit from doing things differently next time... primarily before the belt comes off. BTW has anyone replaced front door handles on an Aveo before? Suggestions before I start would be great!

[xintersecty]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Since these belts need to be changed more frequently than most, I will definitely benefit from doing things differently next time... primarily before the belt comes off. BTW has anyone replaced front door handles on an Aveo before? Suggestions before I start would be great!

This is almost a new thread regarding the door handles. The door interiors come off easy. There is plastic that you have to lift to get to the innards. there are guides for the rods to the door handle, make sure you pull them off the guide and mark where each one go. Just pull them off and DO NOT remove them. the door handle comes out easy.

[Kami]

Brilliant! Thanks for the help.