I'm sure I know the answer is to tear the whole thing down again and buy a new tensioner but here goes...

Did the timing belt change today, everything going smooth until I get the crank pully back on and it's off. After a couple rotations it caught up some with the cam but it's still behind buy some teeth. The cam however is still dead on. I figured since I had it almost back together I'd finish it up and let it run.

Car sounds good, drives fine, unless you put it in neutral and let it idle for awhile. Rpm's start to jump, not bad, it's subtle but occasion gets worse. The question is, well the crank work itself out after a couple days of commute? or should I just bite the bullet, order a new tensioner, pull it back apart and reposition the crank so it's lined up and put it back together again?

 

why order a new tensioner? you can compress the tensioner again and put the grenade pin or lever back in.

its a purely mechanical operation tied down so it wont work its self out. you need to pull it apart. one thing i noticed is once you get both cam and crank on tdc, the cam likes to rotate slightly due to tension from the lifters on the other cylinders, so you must make sure to put the cam back to tdc or buy a cam lock tool.

 

Remember: One rotation for exhaust, one for compression. If, after one rotation of the crank you were expecting everything to line up again, it won't happen. The second pass to TDC at the crank should once again line everything up. If not, you have problems.

Your problem doesn't sound like the tensioner like tofast said. It seems like you just didn't take the time to make sure everything was lined up just right before putting it all back together and giving it a go. We all get eager from time to time... it happens!

Your best bet in this case it to tear it all back down and make sure everything lines up just right.

 

Thanks for the replies. I found a guy with a big enough vise to handle the tensioner. So here we go again! I'll be double checking the marks this time.

 

It's a little tricky getting the tensioner to compress again and line back up without it slipping out of the vice. Make sure you have a small finishing nail handy to thread in between the bar and the housing. Good luck!

 

What I've found that works on the 1.8T is to set the crank on the mark and set the cam one tooth clockwise (advanced) from the mark. When you set the tensioner and pull the pin, it tends to rotate the cam a tooth so bussing it forward like this helps to bring it all in line.

 

yep i also do it this way or rotate the crank 3* retarded but cam on time. then put belt on and tensioner. pull pin and rotate crank back to timing mark, then rotate engine twice to ensure timing is correct.

 

Thanks for the replies. What I ended up doing is lining up the cam and crank after tearing it all apart again. I rotated twice and everything still lined up so I put it back together and it seems to be running fine. However, when I first start the car the rpm's idle around the first mark after 1000. After I put it in gear, pull it out of the garage, and then let it idle (either in gear, park, or neutral) the rpm's sit at the mark below 1000. Should I be worried about this?

 

Your idle speed will be higher when the engine is cold and then slow as it comes up to normal operating temp. This is normal.