1UZ cam timing - can't get it right, any advice?

[Orphan]

Hey guys,

This is my first time installing a timing belt and lining up the cam gears and I foolishly didn't mark the belt/gears to make it easy to put back on. The engine is a 1UZ-FE. With the crank at 0 degrees I have attempted several times to get the cams to line up without success. I have the right hand side cam (viewing from front) is ~1-2mm off and the left is around 4-5mm off. I have some pictures below. The tensioner is still compressed though in place providing slight tension, I am unsure how much tension it provides to the belt once released and if it would pull/stretch the belt getting the right hand gear into line. The issue I am facing with both is that each tooth on the cam gear is ~7mm from center to center so changing one tooth means it is still out. I checked the timing marks before removing the belt and they all lined up so it looks like I am the issue here haha. I would be grateful for any advice.

rhdcamtiming.jpg

lhdcamtiming.jpg

[Dan_k36]

Genuine belts have the marks on them
You sure there aren't 2 marks on pulley?
You will have to compress the hydraulic tensioner to help get it all back together

[4th surf]

Looks like you're a tooth out on the crank which is very easy to do. As Dan says and I'll expand on, pretty much all timing belts available for the 1UZ have timing marks on them (not sure about the "eBay specials" as I've never used one), even the "Enduratec" brand kits (which incidentally have a Gates belt in them and GMB pumps) have marks on the belt. now the belts only go on one way and unless it has arrows on it denoting direction of rotation the easy way to work it out is to stand at the front of the car and look at the belt, the writing on the belt must face towards you (that is be read normally from left to right). On the belt there are three timing marks, two are solid and one is a dotted line. The two solid marks line up with the timing marks on the cam gears and the dotted line lines up with a mark on the crank gear.

On the crank gear itself there are two timing marks, one is on the inner lip of the gear and lines up with the little "titty" on the front of the oil pump housing as normal for any Toyota engine. The other looks like the letter "O" stamped into the front face of the gear, this should be sitting in roughly the 5 O'clock position with everything lined up, This "O" mark lines up with the dotted line on the timing belt. So fit your belt with all these marks lining up, install your compressed hydraulic tensioner last and you can't go wrong. Try any other way and you seem to be fighting RPM DTCs.

Interestingly enough up until about 3 years ago genuine belts for these were cheaper than the aftermarket variety

[Orphan]

Thanks for the replies.

@Dan_k36 on the front of each cam gear there is a single dimpled mark which is painted blue which is what I am going off as that is what I see in the workshop manual. The belt looks to be a genuine Toyota belt with part number 13568-50010 printed on it. I didn't find any timing marks on either side of the belt and it appears to be installed around the wrong way around going from 4th surf's comment with the text upside down when viewed from the front of the engine. I took the hydraulic tensioner out and compressed it then bolted it back in place after putting the belt on as it takes out some of the slack after which I rotated the engine to see if the cams lined up. This is why I was wondering if the full tension provided pulls or stretches the belt bringing them into line or not. It was not in place while installing the belt. I don't have access to the crank gear currently as I only took the belt off to pull the cams out to adjust the shim clearance as the Toyota SST was useless at the very back of the engine due to impaired access. I assume the crank pulley is notched like the cam gears so they can't be misaligned and 0 degrees according to the markings on the front of the engine will be true? I will be home early tomorrow so I will just have another go at it and see if it turns out any better. If the timing marks are gone do you have any idea if getting the timing marks on the cams within the width of the marks on the engine be satisfactory to determine if it is lined up correctly? Thanks again.