al02gt

I took everything back down today to verify the timing is set correctly.
The car is an 02 GT 5-speed 4.6.

I set the crank to TDC, and then took everything off including the chains, guides, and tensioners.

My chain has "black" links on each side when folded in half.

First, I lined up the LH chain (driver side) black link with the dot on the crank sprocket. Then I lined the straight side up with the LH cam gear dot. So both dots line up correctly with the black links.

Repeated the same on the RH (passenger side). Installed the guides and tensioners and rechecked.

So right now, everything is lined up. All the black links are lined up with the dots on the cams and the dots on the crank.

Did I do this correctly? I wanted you guys to look at the pictures and make sure I didn't screw this up.


RH- Passenger side cam gear lined up with the black link


LH- Driver side cam gear lined up with the black link


Crank sprocket lined up with the dots and black links from both chains


I haven't rolled the crank yet. Hopefully I got this right.

72MachOne99GT

whoa blur-horsey!....

driver side looks right...cause it's opposite of how mine was. lol

HERE it is, I couldnt find the page..
http://www.modulardepot.com/articlesp.php?aid=32

that has pics and everything
edit: the picture is mine, notice how the mark is around 1 o clock, it needed to be around 7 because I was on the exhaust stroke, or intake,, I dont know which
just whichever one it wasnt supposed to be on .lol

al02gt

Thats one of the reference guides I used. (The link you sent).

I don't have the cam bolts out so I can't verify that the keyways are 90 degrees to the upper valve cover mounting surface.

But the article just said line up the dots with the marked link and thats what I did.

One thing I don't like is how the new chain sits in the RH (Passenger sprocket). I didn't replace it because I didn't have the tool to lock the cams down.

So unless someone see's something I did wrong then I'm going to turn the crank and make sure nothing hits, then button it back up and test it out.

mustangman281

Looks good to me. With the crank at TDC the passenger mark should be at 2oclock and the driverside at 11oclock. Here is an old pic of mine you can use to verify.

72MachOne99GT

yea, it looks good to me,
and you'll definately know if you have it wrong
there will be way too much resistance when turning by hand

Davojan59

so..im confused now. Are u talking about the black links that are on the timing marks that are supposed to be at 2 and 11? Because looking at his, that doesn't look like what u said...unless im missing something. Not trying to interfere here, im just trying to learn myself cause ill be in the same boat soon.

al02gt

I hope I have it right this time. I was off 1 tooth on the passenger cam before and it rattled a little and fell on its face after 3k.

Hoping I have it all lined up now. I'll blow the engine off, pull the plugs, and roll it over to make sure none of the valves hit.

I may go back and put a spacer behind the passenger side timing chain guide because I don't like the way it just slides around on the stud. I guess the chain would keep it pulled out, but I don't want it getting into the upper straight guide and trimming off plastic shavings.

Thanks a lot for your help guys.

al02gt

BTW: From the front of the engine. The passenger side cam dot is at 11 o'clock and the driver side is at what seems to be 1 o'clock.

Davojan59

al02gt, thats what i thought about ur dots facing 11 and 1, but then i was confused...

al02gt

Yeah--

I noticed in the picture his driver side cam dot and marked link seemed to be rotated a little more to the right than mine. But, I guess as long as you line up the dots you can't go wrong. Because you do the straight side on the timing chain to line up the dots, so when they match up it should be right.

So if you move the engine to "Safe mode", or 10 degrees BTDC the cam and crank dots would move but all still line up the same.