Method #1 - use a dial indicator
Here's some advice that I received off the Internet: To locate the TDC mark on the timing cover, you have to understand that TDC means "top dead center"...that is, #1 piston is at the very top of it's travel. So, when #1 is at the top of it's travel, the pointer should be pointing to the TDC timing line on the vibration damper.
The tricky part is finding exactly where tdc is...because the piston is very near the top of it's travel for several crankshaft degrees of rotation. One way to find tdc is to use a dial indicator, and note the pointer reading at about .050" before tdc, and .050" beyond tdc, measured in piston travel. Then the pointer position exactly halfway between these readings is exact TDC.
The main problem with method #1 is that you must have the heads removed to measure the piston movement which leads us to method #2.
METHOD #2 - Use a homemade Manometer
I found this method while reading a back issue of an old car magazine from the late 60s. I don't remember which one otherwise I would give complete credit as it is an easy and accurate method. The best part is that you only have to remove the sparkplugs.
Basically, a 3/16" clear plastic tube filled with some oil is connected to the sparkplug hole. As the crank is rotated around TDC, the oil level will rise then fall as it passes through TDC. The peak indicates TDC.
A manometer is a meter that works by measuring the level of a liquid in a tube. In this case, we're going to monitor the level of air in a plastic tube that is going to push a little bit of oil. The air level is going to be controlled by the piston going up and down in the cylinder. The basic concept is that the piston is big and will displace lots of air, the plastic tube with oil in it is small. Any minor movement of the piston will move the oil in the tube a large distance.
I did a rough calculation based on the bore versus the cross sectional area of the 3/16" plastic tube and came up with a 0.001" movement of the piston will correspond to a 0.455" movement of the oil in the plastic tube. With a 3 foot length of tubing, I found that I could effectively rotate the crank about 20 degrees.
A sliced and diced compression gauge, quick disconnect fittings and some 3/16" plastic tubing
You take a compression gauge and cut the hose in half. Since you don't want to destroy the compression gauge, you add quick disconnect fittings like you use on your air hose. This way you can put the pieces back together and have a working compression gauge.
Next you remove the valve from the inside of the sparkplug thread. It is basically the same as the valve stem on your tires. This allows the air to flow without impedement through the sparkplug thread. I added a female quick disconnect to the sparkplug side.
On a 3 foot length of 3/16" clear plastic tubing, I installed a male quick disconnect fitting. I also installed a male quick disconnect fitting to the compression gauge. Now I can easily switch back and forth from a manometer to a compression gauge.
The sparkplugs were removed so that the engine would turn easier. Oil was squirted into all the cylinders so that they would slide up and down without too much effort and to seal cylinder #1. The engine was rotated to what I thought was TDC.
The gauge was then screwed into cylinder #1 and and the tubing was looped around the master cylinder as it was handy place to loop things. A little bit of oil was squirted into the plastic tubing for about 4 inches of length and the oil was allowed to settle into one puddle at the bottom of the loop.
A neat trick that my buddy Mark showed me was how to rotate the engine using the power steering pump instead of the balancer bolt. You tighten up the power steering belt so it doesn't slip. Put a proper fitting allen key in the power steering pulley nut and use a pipe to turn the allen key. The pulley turns the belt which turns the crank and there is a lever action cause the power steering pulley is smaller than the crank pulley. Works very slick!
I slowly rotated the crank from 10 deg ATDC (After TDC) to 10 deg BTDC (Before TDC). You have to turn it slowly otherwise the oil will spray out. While turning, I watched the oil level and you could see it rise as the piston reached TDC, peak and then fall as it passed TDC. I tested it several times in both directions and found that my pointer was out by 3 degrees. It showed that TDC was at 3 deg BTDC. A quick bend and it was dead nuts on.
I have 2003 a Corola - d4afd78.jpg"/uploads/images/d4afd78.jpg" alt="d4afd78.jpg" class="h_mi" />
If precision isnt that great to you- a screwdriver in #1 piston spark plug hole will show you the travel up and down as well.
Hope this was helpful and gave you 2 methods to find TDC.
Thanks for using FixYa!!
The step by step instructions:--
read my next comment for more help without forget.
Temporarily install the timing pulley bolt. Hold the hexagonal wrench head portion of the camshaft with a wrench, then tighten the timing pulley bolt to 43 ft. lbs. (59 Nm).
Install the crankshaft pulley. Align the pulley set key with the groove of the pulley. Slide on the timing pulley, facing the flange side inwards.
Temporarilly install the idler pulley and tension spring. Install the idler pulley with the bolt. Do not tighten the bolt yet. Install the tension spring. Push the pulley toward the left as far as it will go and tighten the bolt.
Set the No. 1 cylinder to TDC of the compression stroke. Turn the hexagonal wrench head portion of the camshaft, and align the hole of the camshaft timing pulley with the timing mark of the bearing cap. Using the crankshaft pulley bolt, turn the crankshaft and position the key groove of the crankshaft timing pulley upward.
Install the timing belt on the crankshaft timing pulley. Attach the belt guide, facing the cup side outward.
Install the No. 1 timing cover and tighten the mounting bolts to 65 inch lbs. (7 Nm).
Temporoily install the crankshaft pulley, and align its groove with the timing mark "0" of the No. 1 timing belt cover.
If reusing the old belt, support the belt so that the meshing of the crankshaft pulley and the timing belt does not shift. Check that the matchmark on the belt matches the end of the No. 1 cover. Align the matchmarks of the belt and the camshaft timing pulley.Check the valve timing and timing belt tension. Remove the grommet and loosen the timing belt idler pulley mounting bolt.
Turn the crankshaft pulley 2 revolutions clockwise from TDC to TDC.
Check that each pulley aligns with the marks as shown in the illustration. If the timing marks do not align, remove the timing belt and reinstall it. Tighten the timing belt idler mounting bolt to 27 ft. lbs. (37 Nm). Install the grommet and the No. 1 timing belt cover.Measure the timing belt deflection at the SIDE point, looking for 0.20-0.24 inch (5-6mm) of deflection at 4.4 lbs. pressure (2 kg). If the deflection is not correct, readjust the idler pulley.
Install the No. 2 and No. 3 timing belt covers, tighten the bolts to 65 inch lbs. (7 Nm).
Install the crankshaft pulley by aligning the set key with the key groove of the pulley, the slide the component on. Tighten the pulley bolt to 87 ft. lbs. (118 Nm).
Install the valve cover.
Install the spark plugs.
Temporarily install the water pump pulley.
Install the RH engine mounting insulator.
Attach the engine ground connection on the RH fender apron.
Install and adjust the drive belts.
Install the RH engine splash shield, front wheel, cruise control actuator and washer tank.
Check the fluid levels, connect the negative battery cable and start the engine. Check for leaks and test drive.
There are "assembly" marks on the cam that help you mate the two cam gears. The TDC mark for timing is different than the assembly marks. I think these marks may be on opposite faces of the cam gear, .
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Place the crankshaft at top dead center, pointer lined up to the "0" on the cover. Make sure that the #1 piston is at the top if not then rotate 360 deg until piston is at the top. The exhaust camshaft gear key should point to the top at 12 oclock. There is a dimple on the ex. cam at 9 0clock and should match the dimple on the 3 oclock intake camshaft. This is the Top Dead Center position and timing of camshaft to crankshaft.
When the intake camshaft is removed the meshed spyder gear should be locked with a 6mm bolt before removal to prevent the mis alignment of the 2 piece gear. The gear cannot be locked in the TDC position and the ex. cam has to be rotated cc so that the 12 oclock pin is rotated just below 9 oclock. This will place the bolt opening on the intake cam to 12 oclock to insert the 6mm lock bolt.
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read my next post for more details.
1)Trace thespark plug wires to the distributor, which is on the right side of the engine blockyou face it. Unhook the cable from the negative battery terminal.--2)Pull off the air cleaner hose as well as all spark plug wires from the spark plugs; leave the spark plug wires connected to the distributor cap. Label them to avoid mix-up.--3)Mark the rotor's position in relation to the cylinder head. Remove the distributor hold-down bolt(s) with a wrench. Lift out the distributor assembly. Get rid of the old O-ring from the distributor shaft.---4)Get the No. 1 piston to the Top Dead Center (TDC) mark by turning the crankshaft bolt clockwise; you'll find it in the pulley near the bottom of the engine. Use a long-handled ratchet (breaker bar) to turn the engine. The timing mark on the crankshaft pulley must line up with the 0 mark on the No. 1 indicator on the timing belt cover.---5)Install the new O-ring, greasing lightly; the O-ring will be a separate purchase from the distributor. Align the distributor with the line of the housing.----6)Place the new distributor into the cylinder head. Now align the rotor with the mark you made on the cylinder head. Use a wrench and tighten the hold-down bolts lightly. You can order part number A18477417 for a 1993 1.8L Corolla from Parts Train (see Resources); be ready to give your engine size and model year.---7)Reconnect the spark plug wires to the correct spark plugs. Also reconnect the distributor connectors, the air cleaner hose and the negative battery cable. Connect the negative battery cable. Reset digital equipment such as radio memory and the clock. Tighten down the hold-down bolts.Connect the negative battery cable. Reset digital equipment such as radio memory and the clock. Tighten down the hold-down bolts.
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Hi.
Well your problem is quite big. So u need to get the help of a mechanic.Its better to give 1000 bucks to a mechanic now then to have a serious problem in future buddy.
Regards!
Sandeep
This should help... http://www.ehow.com/how_4520389_check-replace-timing-chain-toyota.html
Let me know if you need further assistance .... Thanks Kevin
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I have re-installed my camshafts and torqued everything up-my timing chain is not the problem-the problem is that I didn't mark both the timing chain and the timing chain sprockets for TDC so now that I have re-installed the original cams the timing chain is still wearing the marks but rotating the cracnkshaft never brings the timing marks together as they were when I first removed the cams. Do I remove the cams again and set the sprocets in place so that the marks are facing one another and then re-install the chain in the TDC position also? If I do that I still won't know whether the no. 1 piston is at TDC.
How can I do this without finding TDC for the no.1 piston-is there some simple method or do I have to pay my local rip-off mechanic to do the job for a 1000 bucks or more. Please note also that my Car is called Corolla but is the equivalent of the Matrix XRS with the celica 190 hp motor-ie.the 2ZZ-GE which was introduced in 2003 and dropped in 2006.It is not the 1ZZ motor that went into standard Corolla and Matrix models
I think I have given enough information for a
person who knows what he is talking about to reply with a solution-all I am asking is to know how to be sure that I have TDC when I torque up the cams and get ready to replace the rest of the parts before I kick over the engine again-Mr.Gupta's advice that I should waste my time and money on a mechanic was a cheap shot and of no value and if that's the best you guys can do then refund my ten bucks!
I don't think you are in the same time frame as me sport-since when did a 2003 DOHC 2ZZ-GE motor have a distributor-it doesn't even have a coil-they are on the plugs-you should stick to big blocks and things you guys seem to know about
This is a highly sophisticated motor and doesn't have timing that depends on electronics that dinosaurs played with.If you don't know anything about this engine which is also in the Lotus Elise don't waste your time
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