95 Rodeo Timing Belt Problems

I'm attempting to replace the timing belt after 160,000 miles. Replaced water pump, tensioner arm & pulley, idler pulley. When the key on the crankshaft is lined up with the groove on the oil pump @ 3:00 position, the cam sprockets are correctly lined up but the passenger side timing mark on the oil pum is at 10:00 position. Is this correct? At this point should the tensioner arm & pulley be installed or removed. I double clipped the belt for the crankshaft and both cams but now I can't get belt over water pump. I tried moving the crank bolt back and forth to get more clearance but I felt something spring and now the drivers side csm sprocket is no longer lined up correctly!!! Did I bend A valve in the process? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated? Thank you.

You haven't done any damage. You felt the compression in the cylinder release. You do not pull the pin on the new tensioner until after you get everything lined up. I can't quite figure out what you are saying about the crank mark. At first you siad it was a t 3 o'clock, as it ought to be, but then you say "the passenger side timing mark on the oil pump is at 10 o'clock." I can't figure out what you mean by that. Do you mean on the belt? If so, the marks on some belts are not correct. You can ignore the belt markings if the pulley marks are lined up. You should have everything installed, but the pin for the tensioner in place. Get all of the marks lined up and the belt in place with any slack on the tensioner side of the belt. Then release the pin in the tensioner.

If you already took the pin out, you have to remove the tensioner and use a vice or something similar to push the rod back in and replace the pin. Let us know what's up!

Ok, thanks for the help so far. I'm relieved that no damage has been done. The two marks on the crank that I was referring to are: 1) The groove on the timing pulley aligned with the alignment mark on the oil pump. 2) The alignment mark on the crankshaft gear aligned with the mark on the timing belt. According to the Autodata timing belt manual, the picture shows all of the alignment marks horizontal/perpendicular to the ground. However, if the groove on the timing pulley is aligned with the alignment mark on the oil pump @ 3:00 on the driver side of the crank, at this point the other mark (alignment mark on the crankshaft gear) is not at 9:00 as is pictured. At this point this second mark (alignment mark on crankshaft gear) is actually @ 10:00.
Thanks again, Groovy

I don't know how you can get the 3 o'clock/10 o'clock alignment, but here's an excellent "Hall of Fame" thread with lot's of pics and diagrams

http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=16972

[EDIT Dec 20, 2007] trooperbc points out below that this link is for the DOHC V6. See further below for a SOHC PDF [END-EDIT]

OK. That's what I thought you were saying. So ignore the belt marks, except for the directional arrows, and go by the marks on the pulleys, oil pump, and plate. Again, the marks on the belt I got were not correct and everything worked out great.

And don't you love how the tension builds prior to the first turn of the key!!!

I don't know how you can get the 3 o'clock/10 o'clock alignment, but here's an excellent "Hall of Fame" thread with lot's of pics and diagrams

http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=16972 that's an excellent thread and information, but it is for the DOHC engine, boritz.
your excellent pdf on this procedure is more appropriate here and would be very helpful i think for the OP. i know you have it available on the australian site, but you also had a more direct link which i don't have
what is it?

//bc

:) G'day bc,

I must admit, I get confused when DOHC/SOHC is not specified in the thread. Add to the confusion the US Rodeo is an Oz Frontera (I think!) :banghead: .

Someone posted a copy of my SOHC procedure at
http://www.datazap.net/sites/Australia4WD/Forum%20Articles/Isuzu_V6_Timing_Belt_and_Water_Pump_rev2.pdf

The original is at http://forum.australia4wd.com/lofiversion/index.php?t7463.html

Thanks again for all of the help. Ok, I performed the tasks requested but after I rotated the crank two full revolutions, the passenger side cam timing mark did not come up far enough to line up with the timing mark on the cover. The marks on the driver cam and oil pump are ok. It looks as though the passenger cam mark is about 3 teeth below the dimple on the cover. What do I do now?

Take the belt off and rotate the errant camshaft pulley until the marks are aligned.

yes ^^^

remember on these engines with the belt off you can rotate the crank and the cams clockwise as much as you want. just get the marks lined up before you install the belt...and check them carefully after you get the belt installed; they need to be lined up perfectly. you might want to use a mirror to check the crank

//bc

Ok, I'll try that. Also, with the auto tensioner & tensioner pulley being new parts, does the tensioner pulley need to be adjusted? Thanks again and have a good weekend.

There is no adjustment on my 1997 tensioner pulley, but the Isuzu 1992+ workshop manual indicates some sort of eccentric (cam-like) offset adjustment at the pulley bearing. Therefore I cannot accurately say for your 1995 model. The hydraulic pusher has no adjustment, of course.

Examine the new pulley - is there any sign of adjustment around the bearing bolt?

trooperbc may have some idea here because his is a 1992 model.

I've only done 2 timing belt jobs: once on my Jetta and once on the Rodeo. Both times I had the marks lined up. Both times I tried to rotate the engine to make sure the belt didn't slip, but I couldn't get things to line up after 2 crank rotations. Both times I figured that nothing slipped, and I've driven many miles since without a problem. I can't explain it. But if you get the marks lined up and the tensioner set, then it has to be correct. I wouldn't want to play with that auto tensioner very much.

....Examine the new pulley - is there any sign of adjustment around the bearing bolt?....l. the 1995 should be the same as boritz writes, but if your new pulley unit has an of-center bolt in the pulley, that is the adjustment bolt. after initial installation of all components, you check the length of the protruding rod of the tension pusher; if it's within spec, fine. if not, you get to remove the pusher and then adjust the pulley with the bolt and redo (and maybe redo again). the spec for the protruding rod is 4-6mm (0.16 - 0.24 in).

//bc

Wouldn't the cam and crank pulleys still rotate the same amount despite the adjustment of this eccentric tesioner pulley? I suppose if the tension was too little the belt could slip...

Wouldn't the cam and crank pulleys still rotate the same amount despite the adjustment of this eccentric tesioner pulley? I suppose if the tension was too little the belt could slip... the adjustment on these models is only to make sure the pushrod on the tensioner is at the specified stickingout length, which yes is for proper tension purposes.

//bc

Thanks again to all of you for your help. The adjuster pulley was not the eccentric type. The timing belt is on and everything is back together. My next problem is a starting issue but i'll post a new thread for that if I don't find help in a previous thread. Thanks again.
Groovy