i believe there is a TDC mark on the camshaft sprocket and backing shield - there are also notches in the camshaft ends near the chain which should be at 12 o'clock and like cca4 said - 16 links between the cams

 

 

Sorry I wasn't clear. The belt stripped teeth, not the cam gear. Your post about the timing marks on the cam sprocket and cover are helpful. I found the marks on those. Funny thing.... I havn't moved the cam sprocket yet since tear down and where the belt stripped the timing marks are perfectly aligned on the cam sprocket. Thanks for the help guys. Any other tips are welcome.

 

Ahhhh I gotcha. I thought that sounded a little odd, but I've heard crazier things. That's good! If the timing marks on the crank gear and cam gear are aligned, you might be able to just slap a new belt and tensioner on the thing and call it a day. Can you snap some pics of the timing marks and post them up so we can double check before you try to turn it over again?

 

This. If the crank and cams are all aligned and you put a new belt and tensioner on, you can pull the spark plugs so you're not fighting engine compression and slowly rotate the engine via the crank sprocket. You may get extremely lucky (although I hate to say it, it's kind of unlikely). Either way, do this and you'll know one way or another.

 

i definately wouldnt just slap a new belt on and hope for the best. odds are pretty great you have bent valves. if they are bent enough, the piston will keep slapping up against them and damage them even more, possibly beyond future use. if it were me i would definately take the head in to get tested for bent valves. or at inspect it yourself. as for the timing marks, it isnt very difficult. just line the the mark on the harmonic balancer with the mark on the lower tbelt cover. line up the mark on the cam gear with the mark on the valve cover. now very a tip. move the cam gear about half a tooth adavnced. when you pull the pin on the new tensioner, it pulls the cam gear back a tad.

 

New belt kit will be here tomorrow. Have to head out of town till the weekend for work so likey Saturday till I get it put back together. Got a buddy that is going to help me do a leak down on each cylinder after we get the belt on. Will do the roation test during that as well Devil. Thanks for the input guys... I'll post some pics and keep you posted.

 

Put the new timing belt on today. Leak down tested each cylinder at tdc at each held pressure! I'm hoping I may be one of the lucky few and not bent valves. However I can't get the engine to fire. Put the plugs back in, made sure timing marks were lined up and gave it a crank with the front end still aprart. No fire. Figuired I may have the cam 180 degrees off from the crank so moved it 180. Same deal.

Questions.... Is there a way to tell if the cam timed to the right crank stroke or does it matter as long as the timing marks are lined up?

Timing marks don't line up perfectly. Mark on crank pully is about 1/16 of an inch left of the mark on the cover. If I move the timing belt one tooth is is like 1/4" off the other way.

Engine should fire with all the front taken apart right? I was only going to run it for like 5 sec then shut it off and reassemble.

Any suggestions? Thanks for all the help up to this point.

 

If you timed the cam using the indicators in the head by the CCT, then the cam is properly indexed. The crank is correct if the mark is lined up. Being off by a fraction of an inch is fine - that correlates to part of one tooth. That won't affect anything. With everything taken apart and good compression, and since the VC was removed, be sure the cam sensor on the front of the head is plugged in. The 1.8T needs a valid signal from the cam sensor and the crank sensor to fire - absent either of them, the ECU won't let the engine fire. On a V6/V8, the crank and at least one cam sensor have to read right. Doublecheck that the cam sensor is plugged in.

 

Thanks Devil. I didnt' pull the valve cover. I just timed the cam using the sprocket and the mark. I think my next step is to pull the valve cover and see whats going on in there. I don't think I disconnected the cam sensor. That is the plug to the right of the cam sprocket right?