Distributor out, lost my marks

chrisexv6 said:

Same with my '01 Frontier: IIRC the slot on the distrib is all the way towards the windshield, so the bolt itself is located in a position where the distributor could only be moved counterclockwise towards the front of the truck.

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chrisexv6 said:

Five notches on lower pulley are correct....you need the left most one for TDC.

First I would double check to make sure everything is connected (especially plug wire orientation). If the timing were that far off, I would wonder if the valves could hit the pistons even just during starting attempts, so if you arent hearing any bad noises Id start with checking connections first.

And yes, my understanding is that it is possible to end up at TDC on exhaust stroke. I actually "rented" a compression tester so I could know for sure when I was on compression stroke of cylinder 1. Since my distributor wasnt removed, I could also tell by the fact that the rotor was pointing at the #1 plug wire. Since your distrib was removed, the compression tester might be the best way.

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JoshCampbell said:

Could try actually searching the forums just in case someone already took the time to answer most of this. Just saying.

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f46/finding-1-cyl-tdc-321889/#post3458961

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JoshCampbell said:

You already know the answer to that question, which is why it's so important that we help others avoid a similar fate. i turned the engine over and my driver side valves collided with the Pistons. At that point I knew I was 180 degrees off. I paid a mobile mechanic to come out and correct the timing (both valve covers were off). He ended up walking away from the job. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, "most manufacturers have a diagram which shows the correct rocker positions for timing, and I can't find one for your truck anywhere."

I figured the damage had already been done, and I knew I was 180 degrees off (exhaust stroke), so I rotated the L cam clockwise 180 degrees to it's 1:00 mark. Knowing now what I didn't know then the entire process is simple. However, should an individual lose track of how many times the L cam has rotated independent of the crankshaft, to the best of my knowledge this far, you have a 50/50 chance of aligning it correctly. Unless you otherwise locate this mystical Valve position diagram that mechanic was talking about.

The major take away here is this: don't remove your timing belt until you've secured your camshafts. I'm still working on a detailed write up for the procedure, with lots of images, however I need to finish up a couple seal replacement tutorials I'm working on over on TLZone.net first.

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