Camshaft Timing Marks

j3ffr3y · August 1, 2010

I searched all of the post and really came up with no answer on what to do about this. I have the 3vzfe engine on a 93 Lexus ES300 V6 and it had a blown head gasket which was really bad. I replaced the gasket both head gaskets, along with quite a few others, the water pump, radiator, etc... I did not get a new timing belt because the one that's on it looks almost brand new but it had none of the marks on it. I did mark the TB with the marks on the pulleys and TB cover but that's the only place I marked it. I'm now getting everything together and am at the point where I have the crankshaft on "0" mark, RH (front) on "single dots" and LH (rear) camshaft on "double dots", along with the distributor on the no.1 just as the manual said to do. NOW here's the confusion..., I can get the RH camshaft and pulley all lined up but to get the timing marks on the LH pulley to align, the cams have to be turned quite a bit to get the timing marks aligned with the timing belt cover. When this happens, the double marks on the cams are not aligned anymore and the distributor is no longer pointing at the no.1. Is this normal? I figured if they are still in sync, which they are, then it's ok to turn the cams to get the timing marks on the pulley and back cover aligned. The manuals are extremely poor at explaining any of this and I wanted to make sure before I finish putting it together. Am I supposed to turn the rear camshaft, even after the "double dots" are aligned, which will throw off the camshaft marks, just to get the pulley to line up and then put the belt back on? I'm really confused here. I would really need my car back like yesterday and would really appreciate all the help I can get. This is my only car and I don't have the money to have someone else do this for me. :( Thanks in advance

DJSG3 · August 5, 2010

Have you figured this out? I'm about a week away from being where you are in this post and if you know anything please post.

Thanks,

DJSG3

j3ffr3y · August 9, 2010

Have you figured this out? I'm about a week away from being where you are in this post and if you know anything please post.

Thanks,

DJSG3

Sorry I still haven't gotten anything from anyone on 4 different sites yet and no one seems to know the answer to this either.

dcfish · August 9, 2010

Have you figured this out? I'm about a week away from being where you are in this post and if you know anything please post.

Thanks,

DJSG3

Sorry I still haven't gotten anything from anyone on 4 different sites yet and no one seems to know the answer to this either.

http://www.2carpros.com/car_repair_information/year/1993/make/lexus/model/es_300/1993_lexus_es_300_timing_belt_diagram_marks.htm

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