Prior to removing my timing belt, I made marks for each of the two camshafts and crankshafts where they were currently located. After removing the old belt I replaced the tensioner and idler pulley, installed the new belt and turned the crankshaft CW slightly to get the slack out of the belt. Once the belt was taught, I turned the crankshaft 2 complete revolutions, however when I line up the mark on the crankshaft, the camshafts are off (-1 tooth), do I need to remove the belt, allign the marks and repeat the process? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

I recently did the timing belt on my 2000 V40 and I found the timing marks to be highly unsatisfactory. The timing mark on the crank pulley has to be eyeballed to the mark on the block and the cam timing marks are on the plastic cover which can move around.

The only 100% sure way to be sure the new belt is on correctly, imo, is to mark the old belt before it comes off and then mark the new belt just like the old belt and/or count belt teeth. This assumes the old belt was on correctly, of course.

In your situation, one tooth off on the cam timing probably won't cause piston/valve interference. You've checked this by turning the engine over by hand so you could just start it up and see how it runs. If the cam timing is off the engine will be noticeably down on power.

 

What if I took the belt off, alligned the camshafts with my marks, but this time, set the crankshaft back 1 tooth from the original mark and then repeat the procedure and then see if after two full revolutions, all of the marks line up?

 

If I have the camshafts lined up and the belt off, can the crankshaft be turned CCW to align it with the original mark?