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Timing belt issue need help !

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Hi everyone I recently tried to change the timing belt and water pump on my 07 hawk eye 2.5l ej25 and I have lined all the marks correctly and triple checked all the marks but for some reason I turn the crank a quarter turn clockwise and it locks I've been trying to think if I have done anything wrong but carnt seem to understand any advise or help would be super gratefull


Not sure about the ej25 but on the ej20 engine there are 2 marks on the inlet cam 180 degrees apart one should line up with the mark on the timing cover and the other with the mark on the exhaust cam, did the cams move when you took the old belt off ? Could the inlet cams be 180 degrees out ? Do you have any pics of the job bud 👍

  • Author

Thank you for the quick comment yea the right hand side cams moved when the belt come off so I refined them up and I did have the inlet cam 180 out but I redone it so that everything was correct and lined up

You can only turn the left bank cams in a certain direction when removing or refitting a cam belt , unfortunately if you just release the belt the cams can both turn in opposite directions and cause the valves to hit one another. 

Hopefully you haven't bent any valves , as this might cause the engine to lock , if they're not returning into the valve guides .

The Mark's on the crank look a bit slightly past its correct position ? .

But I wouldn't have thought it's enough to lock the engine .

Could try removing the belt , taking care not to let the left bank cams spin in the wrong direction . Once the cams are all at base circle (lobes not pushing down and opening the valves ) do a couple of slow n gentle rotations of the crank .

If a valve can't return into the head (its bent) the crank will lock as the piston hits the valve .

If the bottom end turns full rotations freely , this might mean you've been lucky and not bent anything.  Then re align all Mark's , pull back the tensioner and try refitting the belt again .

This is for a ej207 but it might help 20180607_135326.thumb.jpg.b1fb932b0da7354a7b24841c9444ffca.jpg20180607_135132.thumb.jpg.5936722319b8a1aff296d79cb7a7b4bc.jpg


  • Author

Thank you for all the help when I took the belt off it was the passenger side so right bank I think that spun not the drivers side left bank so I lined them all up and then it just locked after I tried to crank by hand. What would be the easiest way to see if the valves are returning to there seat ? 

The banks are are named left and right as you are sat in the cabin ,not facing the engine bud .

Gently removing the belt ,so cams dont spin and then let each cam settle gently individually . This should mean the cams aren't pushing the valves open (should have returned into the seat ) , then slowly rotate the crank .

This should rule out the valves being bent if the crank turns freely without hitting anything.  They could still be slightly bent and not returning fully but it would at least help to understand if that's the reason its locking up .

 

If the crank doesn't lock , try refitting the belt ,then you usually you refit the idle pulley (bottom left as you face the engine) and then release the tensioner .

This helps insure theres the right amount  of teeth between cams ,crank and cams on the other bank 

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