timing belt

im replacing a timing belt on a 95 volkswagen golf- 5 speed- i removed all the belts, the timing belt cover, and the belt- how do you know where to line the pullys up ?(the gear things that the belt is on) theres three and the tensioner- the top one has an arrow with O.T. i lined that up, then on the other pully the same size there is the O.T. but no arrow to line it up and the third on the bottom has a yellow dot but thats it. it seemed right to line up the yellow dot w/ the O.T. but the distibutor nor the piston are lined up right. QUESTION how do I line up the pulleys so i dont kill my car?

You have to line up the lines before taking the belf off, or you're f-ed.

The pully cover should have the timing mark on if for the crank pully. bolt the cover back up and put the crank pully on and see if the lines match up ( slit on the pully and v on the cover)

i lined up the crank pulley w/ the line--when i put the 2-piece cover back on theres no other lines or anything to line up the other 2 pulleys. i actually put it back on and the car starts right up. no sputtering or anything; i put it all back together and now when i drive it, its acting like its clogged up or something- i put my foot to the floor and the car doesnt move.in almost every gear its all bogged down until it gets to 3000rpm where it then revs like crazy. i feel i definitely have to redo the timing belt but im still confused on where it lines up.the top crank is easy. the one midway and on the bottom i have no idea.

The mid one is the one for the distributor. The bottom has no mark. You have to line up the cam gear and then the distributor to the #1 position. There is also a black rubber plug on the top of the transmission where you can check to see if the flywheel gear matches the mark on the engine side. Its easiest to put the belt on the crank- then cam, then put the belt on the distributor pulley. SOmetimes it takes 4-5 trys to get the belt on the distributor pully correctly without it moving and changing the distributor timing. Even 1 tooth will make the car accell like crap. If you get the belt on and all the lines match up then its something alse.

ok, on my fifth try the car ran great up and down my block. i put it all back together drove it another 1/2 mile-1 mile and it bogged down completely. i have to rev it up to 2 1/2- 3000 rpm to get it into to gear without it stalling. i didnt pull the plug on the transmission to see if the flywheel matched up but it ran perfect. im totally stumped...i can start it and it runs good- the second i try to drive it the check engine light comes on and it runs like crap. any ideas?

You checked to see if the distributor rotor was lined up correctly in the #1 position. If the gear on the t-belt side is off 1 tooth it will screw up ignition timing and will run bad on accell. Check the codes for the ecm to see what it says. Your timing may be good and an o2 sensor might be bad causing the poor accell.

Have you ever replaced the ignition coil, spark plugs/wires, dist cap or rotor?