right im trying to time up my new engine, 2.5 forged pistons, 1.6mm cosmetics, sti4 heads but using my old 94 wrx pulleys,
crank is linned up, as your looking at engine the left (drivers side) lines up inlet cam to mark on cover, exhaust to cover and also both cams 6 and 12 oclock marks near as dam it perfect, on the other side both cams line up with the marks on the cam covers but the cams themselves ( 6 and 12 oclock ) dont, they dont even line up with the opposite line, if there was 3 lines on the pullys then the far left line on exhaust cam would virtually line up with far right on the inlet cam, now ive had my mechanic mate round last nite who is very clued up and he said everything looks good apart from those double pully lines on the passenger side, even the belt lines line up, he also recons that all the belts hes done hes never managed to perfectly line the double pully line on the right side, it just looks impossible to line, cause if you set the right side by the double lines then the 2 marks that line with the cover would be out
now hes asked me to ask a couple of things

1, how much play do you have with these lines? ie which line are more important to pay attention to or is it all of them?

2, could it be the 94wrx pulleys on sti4 heads?

3, has the thickness of the gaskets got anything to do with it?

any help grateful as put alot of money into this build and dont wanna screw it at this point!

would take some pics but camera ****e and you wouldnt really see much

 

thickness of the head gasket will have nothing to do with it at all. just be the tensioner in a different place with thicker gaskets. wnt do nothin 2 the timing though.

im doin the same conversion but ain't got as far as the timing yet.

 

There was a thread a little while ago where someone put up a link to a diagram of the timing marks on the various pulleys. I remember printing it off. Unfortunately, I haven't got it to hand.
Do a search under cam timing or pulley alignment.

JohnD

 

ive got the whole workshop manual printed off, i know where all the timing marks should line to but it wont have it, looking at it, it honestly seems impossible to get everything to line perfectly, and believe me when i say, weve tried everything we can think of

 

The left hand pair of pulleys ( cylinders 2 + 4 side ) never line up 100% - always seem to be 1/4 to 1/2 a tooth out - but in reality never effects the performace/running of the engine.
You should end up with the arrows (dot on the left hand inlet pulley) on all the timing pulleys in the 2 o'clock position.
Make sure you use the line on the crank pulley ( all pistons are half way down the bores) and not the triangle TDC mark.




Mick.

 

Have you definitely got the pulleys and cams matched, i.e left and right.

Pics would help.

 

will try and get some pics taken with a good camera taken later, weve had another go and it does seem better, as your looking at engine the left side is virtually perfect, the right side is ever so slightly off with the double pulley lines now nearly meeting the opposite line if that makes sence, we think now that if we were to try and move this right side (passenger) inlet even further it would infact be a tooth out acourding to the 12 oclock pulley groove, but the belt line matches the cover mark and wot looks like a smalll dab of paint previously put on pulley which is half a tooth over.

 

crank pulley is arrow at 3 oclock and line up!

 

If you mean the double lines circled in red - they always look 1/4 to 1/2 a tooth out even with a genuine Subaru timing belt fitted.
Sounds like you have timed it right - pull the tensioner pin out and rotate the engine clockwise by hand ( not the starter motor ) twice to align the marks again and recheck all your marks.






Mick

 

yes the ones in red are the problem ones, we tried rotating the engine but to get the belt in the right place again, but this obviously will take forever so we stopped stripped and re lined up, so would it be 2 rotations of a cam pulley??? then check to see if still lined up??

 

As mentioned above right bank on cam will always seem a tooth out. If you are using an OE belt or Gates ect as long as the belt lines correspond with the taming marks and the timing is set correct you can releases the tensioner.

Rotate the engine a few times dont worry too much about lining the belt marks up again or you will be there for a while. Just confirm when crank is safe position that your original pulley positions I.e. according to the diagram above.

It sounds to me like you have it all correct.