87 240 timing problem?
 

About 9 months ago I replaced the timing belt on my '87 240 (b230f with 350,000 miles). The car runs fine. However, when getting it smogged, the tech said the car's timing is 17 degrees BTDC. I had to replace the radiator last weekend, and as long as something was pulled off, I just pulled everything off. The belt's and the gear's markings were dead on. I pulled the timing belt off, went through all the steps and reinstalled it, runs like it always did.

Looking at the crank pulley, i did notice that the timing mark is not even (nor 180 degrees off) the slot where it attaches to the crank gear. I went to the junk yard, pulled this pulley off of three other 240s, and they all line up the same way.

What am I missing and how do I fix the timing issue if there actually is one? It didn't pass smog, but was also running quite hot before the radiator replacement, and I always need a new catalytic conv. anyway.

Any help is appreciated!

generally, when they say 'timing' they are referring to IGNITION timing, not cam.

on a 240, the timing reference is the hall sensor in the distributor. you loosen and rotate the distributor to set it.

Thanks, I'll be under the hood on Monday, and I'll report back.