Timing Belt

Once you get cam in place you may need to lock it down so it does not move. Also, this is an interference engine so do not turn engine over while belt off. See special tool picture.

Go to the BELT ROUTING GUIDES site on this page. Put in your vehicle info, and it will provide a routing diagram and timing marks.

Would be necessary to remove plastic covers to inspect the belt. Look for signs of dry rot, numerous hairline cracks, or partially missing teeth. If you see any of those, you can justify replacement. If the belt looks shiny and new, or has visible writing on the smooth side that doesn't say "Mopar", the belt PROBABLY was already replaced once.

Caradiodoc

Obviously, something was done wrong, probably in the timing. Double check any sensors or wiring that you unplugged. It's also very easy to bend the valves in that engine when doing a timing belt. If the engine is rotated incorrectly.

If you mean that the bright/painted links on the chain dont line up after turning the engine over, but the actual cam/crank marks do, yes it is normal. The distance between the crank and cams is different side to side (tensioner vs. Guide sides) so the chain has a differnet amount of links on each side. If you turned it enough it would all line back up again. As long as the cam, crank correlation is correct you should be fine

You do not have to worry about which stroke because every cylinder will be on a different stroke. You only have to worry about the marks on the crank and cam sprockets. That will be at the end of the compression stroke for cylinder number one.

To avoid hitting the valves, rotate the crankshaft backward about an eighth revolution from top dead center. That way no piston will be all the way up. Rotate the cams to line up their marks, then rotate the crank in the normal direction to top dead center.

Even if you rotate the cams with the crank at top dead center, you will not damage a valve if it hits a piston if you are turning things by hand. It is when a cam sprocket is off by three or more teeth, and you are cranking the engine with the starter that you will bend valves.

See pictures for diagram left hand side must be done first then force oil from tensioner and lube chain with engine oil prior to install. Also either rent a manual from here or buy one so you do not install it wrong it is a lengthy process.

Of course the timing has changed. Even one tooth off on any sprocket will cause severe running problems. Depending on which engine you have, at one tooth off the engine will run, poorly, and the Check Engine light will turn on. A fault code will be set in memory related to "cam and crank synch". At two teeth off, the Engine Computer will shut the engine down to protect it. At three teeth off, the pistons will hit the open valves and bend them. If you tried to rotate the crankshaft by hand, you should feel the interference but you won't bend the valves by hand. Cranking the engine with the starter is when the valves will be bent. After that you'll hear the engine spin very freely due to lack of compression.

There is a mark on the cam shaft and the crank shaft, it is either a punch mark or a little dash line the two up.

Well there is a very good chance that you bent a couple of valves and possibly damaged a piston or two when the belt snapped. So you will need to do a compression test also. That will give you a good idea if you need to replace some valves. Of course set the timing with the new timing belt first, otherwise you'll do more damage.