[Toph013]

Hi, I'm new here just hoping for some friendly advice on my current project. 04 Santa fe 3.5 I started with a bad harmonic balancer (crankshaft accessory pulley) I was just gonna replace that. When i pulled it off the timing sprocket on the crankshaft came with it. So I have now torn the whole thing down to replace the timing belt. I didn't start at TDC cause i wasn't planning on replacing the timing belt at that moment.... was gonna wait and have the dealer do it. I marked my pulleys so i could be sure i was lined up where it was. I replaced the gear on the crankshaft and put the old timing belt back on so i could move the engine to TDC.

This is where my problem happened. I think since i didn't tension it properly that it slipped gears on my rear camshaft. the front cam sprockets line up with the marks but the back ones are off. If i rotate them they seem to spring ahead or back and rest out of time. I spoke to a mechanic at the dealer and he said part of the resistance and spring is the compression. I am about to go pull my spark plugs to eliminate the compression issue. I'm not too excited about pulling the air intake off but i don't know what other step to take next I never came up against resistance when i was rotating the engine but i heard the belt slip once. I don't know which way the gear slipped when that happened. I don't think i damaged anything i just want to be sure i do the next step correctly and don't force something.

Is there away to be sure i have the gears set correctly for the camshaft? I didn't come up against any resistance when i was turning the crank so i don't think i can be that far off. I haven't really messed with it too much I'm afraid of damaging something. I would hate to be a rotation off and bend up my valves... it ran like a top when i pulled it in the garage.

Thanks for reading. I hope I made sense.

 

[Toph013]

I kinda thought it was the valve springs.. Is it because there is something bound or do they just move in jumps like that? I was afraid i had gotten in over my head when my marks were off. Is it likely I could damage something by what I've done already? I fell like i would know if I had applied enough pressure to bend something.

 

[Toph013]

So I got a mechanic friend come over and help me time my Santa Fe. We tensioned the belt and let it sit. I measured the protrusion of the tensioner piston and it was right on. I went back out this morning and the piston in the tensioner was no longer right. it was pushed in too far. I bought a Beck Arnley replacement. Is this normal or did i get a bad tensioner?

 

[Toph013]

I played with it a bit. I think i have some slack somewhere in the belt. If I turn the crank 180 degrees I find a bit of slack around the water pump. I guess i need to reset the belt. If I turn it back to my timing marks the tensioner is good and i have good tension around the water pump.