I can’t see the crank pulley for the timing belt as there is another pulley in front of it for auxiliary I think. I would need to remove that first to see the crank pulley behind it. I will check tomorrow.
Yes, you can see the timing mark with the pulley fitted.
Bear in mind this pic is from the manual for installation of the belt, and is 1 tooth out deliberately. Yours should line up.
Marty
also if your timing cover is still fitted when you look at it through the wheel arch there is a little notch in the pulley itself you can see it easier in this pic coz the engine is out of the car
mark
Hey,
I cant get to the crankshaft gear as the lower timing cover is in the way and I don’t have the tools to remove the larger pulley in front of it. I did notice however that the larger pulley does have a mark/indent on it that I would imagine has to match up to the indicator/ timing mark on the timing belt cover:
This was taken when I aligned the cams at the top to the valve cover markings. Does this pulley reflect how far out the crank pulley is?
The answer to that is…possibly.
Let me explain.
The timing mark on the pulley is mounted on the outer metal ring.
This ring is bonded to the inner part with a rubber part in between. A really common problem with these is the outer part becomes disbonded, so the outer part cn move independently from the inner. This makes the outer mark unreliable as a guaranteed way of checking the timing, unless you KNOW the pulley is good.
Also, we have had several instances of the pulleys been incorrectly fitted. There is an alignment pin, which I have seen crushed and distorted, as the pulley was fitted, making the pulley mark unreliable.
For checking of the cam timing, I would be inclined NOT to use the pulley mark as a reference, and use the toothed wheel instead.
The mark on the pulley really serves as a way to measure base timing.
As a guide, the no1 cylinder should be at TDC with it all lined up.
Also, you should be lining up the crank pulley, and checking the cams, not the other way around. Sounds academic, but it really isn’t. Keep turning the crank pulley until no1 cylinder is at TDC , with the crank lined up. (using a reliable mark)
Then you can check the cams.
I personally think you are probably barking up the wrong tree here, as you have stated the engine runs briefly, and nicely.
Still, good to be certain though
I would also do a compression test on all 6. You are looking for similar numbers from all 6. It’s more important they are all similar, than looking for actual numbers(within reason) No more than 14psi difference between cylinders. Reason for this is, you will probably use an off the shelf tester, and there is no way the gauge will be accurate. It WILL give you differences though.
Like I stated above, you can chase your tail for ages, fault diagnosing. Entirely up to you, of course, but you could spend ages guessing, spend a fortune guessing, and still not fix it.
Not trying to put you off at all, just so you are doing this ‘eyes open’, and we don’t get a thread later on stating, “these cars are s**t, and the owners club doesn’t know jack” I have seen it happen too often in situations like this.
Personally, given your inexperience with these crs, I would ship it off to Ben at Eurospec, get it fixed. Drive it, enjoy it.
They are an expensive car to learn on, and it usually doesn’t go well.
I certainly wouldn’t be asking a local garage to look at it!
Marty
Whilst I agree with Marty here that the difference between cylinder compression is more important that the figure itself I think in your case your compression test could confirm if that alignment mark is right or not. Being as far off as it is you will have mashed the valves into oblivion. Therefore little to no compression. If you have decent compression figures then it will confirm that mark is wrong. The differences between front and rear bank compression will also confirm that one of the cams is 1 tooth out of alignment as you suspect. Do a compression check and post the results. We will try and help as best we can!
Again I agree with Marty that the best bet would be to give it to Ben and let him find the fault. However, I also understand why you want to achieve the results yourself. It gives a great sense of accomplishment. So I would say take the advise given and respect it but if you choose to ignore it and carry on yourself then good on you for persisting and again we will help were possible.
When I aligned the bottom pulley to the T mark the first cam was off by two teeth and the others by three. I am not sure if like you said that is accurate.
Hi Peter,
As Marty has already said, the marks on the crank pulley can be a waste of space, there is a crank pulley that is available, don’t know which Mitsy vehicle it is from but it fits the GTO. The marks on that pulley are 90 degrees out. Totally useless for timing the engine. Get TDC first on cylinder No1. then check the timing, I use as preference, the marks on the cam covers, not the cam pulleys, the reason for this is there are so many marks on my cam pulleys that using them for a guide is hopeless. If yours doesn’t line up first time turn the engine over again trying to find TDC, using a big bar and socket on the bottom pulley, doing it this way you can also find if there is resistance in the engine, either the other cylinders compressing or, hopefully not this, something locking or grinding. If the marks are near enough on the second try you can then judge where the timing is out, if at all.
My mates N/A had this problem, couldn’t get it running for more than 10 seconds, then nothing. Sent the ECU away to the ‘Doctor’ in Plymouth, now it runs sweet as a nut.
Terry 
When I was cranking the engine with a bar and wrench there was defiantly resistance as I cranked it. There was defiantly no grinding sound or locking as I turned it. I have not tried the compression test yet or tried to find TDC then check cams. I will try this next.
I might be barking up the wrong tree however as the engine did start and sounded smooth for a second then it cut out and it keeps coughing/stuttering thereafter.
Exactly how my mates car was, sounded great for a few seconds then nothing. Good luck.
Terry
this is a way to find TDC without the use of the crank timing mark and i way i’ve been doing it for 20 years on engines of all makes and models line up or close to it your top timing marks remove the plug from no1 and turn engine by hand while looking down through the plug hole you will see the crown of the piston then using a chop stick length of threaded bar place it into the hole and against the top of the piston while applying a small amount of pressure with the tip of your finger turn the engine slowly you should feel the piston coming up then it will stop for a split second then start to move down again at this point wind it back slightly till it comes to a stop again and you have TDC then you can look at the cam marks and see how they sit hope this helps
mark
Top tip using a depth gauge , only thing i would do different is a full revolution again , winding it back can cause the belt to slacken off against the tensioner and slip .
Craig 
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I must say what great advice has been offered to Peter so far, a pleasure to read. I’ve done 3 belts on these now, and the info imparted has echoed everything I have come across when doing this job. You are a number of notches out on your cams, and these need to be spot on - the punchmarks on the cam sprockets should be exactly opposite the small diamond castings on the cytlinder head. But, you must set your No.1 cylinder to TDC first.
You will find that when you rotate the engine to come round to TDC, your cam timing marks might well be all over the place. Rotate one more time and trhen take another look at the cam marks. This time they’ll be almost at their points. But from what I’m reading so far, your timing is out, although not by yards by any means. As Marty said, only rely on the crankshaft sprocket timing mark to observe TDC at. To get to the crank sprocket, you’ll have to loosen the ancillary drive belts and then remove them from the crank pulley. Once you have plain sight of the crank pulley, you can insert a large socket onto the crank pulley bolt and undo it. Then it’s a case of wiggling the crank pulley off of the crankshaft. The bolt’s a tight one, and will take an effort to loosen, and you’ll need to prevent the engine/crank from turning while you do it. Then, once you have clear sight of the crank sprocket, you’ll see the timing punchmark on it. Ignore the locating dowel nearby - that’s used to assist positioning the crank pulley when reassembling.
Although I’ve never performed an “in situ” retiming procedure, I believe it is quite do-able, but you will need to get access to the cambelt tensioning eccentric pulley to carry out this work. There will need to be a temporary setting in place of the hydraulic tension device whilst you slacken off the eccentric cambelt idler. Then you can reset your cam sprocket timing marks before resetting the belt tension.
Marty advises that you’re best bet would be to get your car to Eurospec in Guildford, and I second that. However, if you are up for a challenge (not impossible to do by any means), then this will put a huge smile on your face when you’ve done it.
Happy to help or advise if you think you’d like to have a bash yourself.
Good luck with it, be as patient as you can - it’ll work out fine.
Mike
I usually use a long 1/4" extension bar, but the principle is the same.
Marty
yeah i no what you mean marty anything that you have available really thats solid and fits in the hole i have seen it done on sailsbury plain with a twig from a branch found nearby but i wouldn’t recommend trying it lol
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Oooerr!!!
Terry
I use a piece of weld wire but same principle. The pulley that fits but puts it 90deg out is from the 6G74 3.5l engine.
Once you have found TDC make your own timing mark so you don’t have the problem in future. And as Craig said don’t wind the engine backwards!
Having done a compression test on the front 3 cylinders with throttle wide open and ECI fuse out I am only getting 80psi to 90psi on all 3. Not done the back three however I would imagine that they would give a similar reading.
A normal reading for this car should be 135 lowest to 185 highest. I am a bit under the lowest reading. Would incorrect timing cause this low compression?
How many times did you crank it over ? need to do it more than once or twice ,
yes incorrect timing would cause low readings , especially if valves are bent , surprised to see the front three all have the same low reading though
Craig