1996 Rodeo interferance engine ?? yes or no

hi i have a 1996 isuzu rodeo 3.2L v6 i recently went out to start the car and it turned over but would not start. after making shure i had fuel air and spark. i started looking for something more. well i found it to be A timing belt so after looking around for information about it i saw a couple of things saying that it was not a interferance engine. i decided to replace the belt well after replacing the belt it dosent want to start and has a massive amount of air coming out of the intake manifold. now after taking it back apart to check to see if it hapend to jump timing or if i got it wrong. i turned it over by hand and it just kept going back to the marks just like its suposed to.

any ideas thanks

would not let me edit so i will add this here

the gates web site says it is not a interferance engine the paper that came with the gates belt says that it is ? the part number of the belt i cross refranced it to the web site and it is the same one that says it is not a interferance engine on the web site ?

It is non interferance. Getting the timing right can be tricky on 3.2s, I havent had to do it so I'm not much help there. Also some aftermarket belts have the timing marks in the wrong places. Not sure which ones have problems though.

is it important to pay atention to the marks on the belt i just worred about the ones on the cam gears and crank shaft

Absolutly not interference

how do you know this for shure ??

how do you know this for shure ??


Well you have several options:

1. Call Isuzu. :rofl:

2. Listen to two Isuzu Techs that have confirmed the 3.2 is NI.

3. Drive your truck until the belt snaps


This issue has been covered MANY times. I've only read of one person that claimed she had valve damage when the belt snapped on her 3.2 Several have said they had NO damage when their belt snapped.

Unless you've dealt with a snapped belt you'll never for sure.

Well you have several options:

1. Call Isuzu. :rofl:

2. Listen to two Isuzu Techs that have confirmed the 3.2 is NI.

3. Drive your truck until the belt snaps


This issue has been covered MANY times. I've only read of one person that claimed she had valve damage when the belt snapped on her 3.2 Several have said they had NO damage when their belt snapped.

Unless you've dealt with a snapped belt you'll never for sure.


so whats isuzu's number and where are the Techs to talk to ?? why am i geting blow by with all the marks alinged and manualy turning the crank by hand the marks go exactly back to where they are suposed to ??

If you're getting air coming out of the intake manifold then you couldn't possibly have the timing correct. It sounds like you have the camshafts running in relation to the crank such that the upstroke is occurring as the intake valves are opening. This has nothing to do with interference/non-interference.

Recheck the timing, odds are your crank isn't timed properly with the cams.

Interference engines will slam the piston crown into the valves if the valves are open while the piston is traveling up (means there's no clearance at TDC - top dead center, the uppermost extent of the piston during each up and down cycle - for the valves being open). Non-interference engines can have the valves open with the piston at TDC and have clearance which results in no engine damage. Of course, when a engine is moving at 3,000RPM the momentum of the pistons can sometimes throw one into the valves if the timing belt/chain breaks, but, it's fairly rare.

99% sure it's NON-interference.

My waterpump croaked 2.5yrs ago taking the timing belt tensioner and timing belt with it....causing it to jump a couple of teeth. No damage was done..although it sounded like holey grail.

Sounds like the timing isn't set right.

well i am getting a compression tester today i just wish some one had some kind of idea or trick some other variable that i could add to this equasion to figure this out

OK so what marks am i suposed to use on the covers the BUMPS or the LINES i think i was using the wrong marks i was alinging the line on the cam gear with the line on the back cover not the bumps is it DA BUMPS ?

And we see how the myths continue:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Isuzu-Repair-816/2008/6/Rodeo-1996-4wd-3.htm

Line up the lines on the cams with the bumps on each back plate and make sure the timing mark on the crankshaft is at 9 o'clock (which will put the crankshaft notch at 3 o'clock, lined up with the oil pump). The passenger side camshaft should be at about 10 o'clock and the driver side camshaft at about 4 o'clock.

If you start installing the timing belt at the crankshaft and line up the alignment mark there and continue clockwise the other alignment marks on the timing belt should line up with the marks on each camshaft.

Here's a PDF to help you:

http://www.datazap.net/sites/Australia4WD/Forum%20Articles/Isuzu_V6_Timing_Belt_and_Water_Pump_rev2.pdf

A compression tester won't help you a bit for this. You're timing is off, that's why you have compression coming out the intake.

i read somewhere about the belt tensoner making a loud ticking noise ? is this true i always thought that noise was the valves ?

BTW the tesoner with all of my 200lbs pressed down on it would only go in about 1/8th of an inch and it was not easy to compress in a vise could it still be bad

I think the hydraulic lifters make a light ticking sounds (probably more noticeable at idle) whereas the tensioner when bad makes more like a clacking sound (as the engine gets under load..this is probably why it sounds like a bearing that's been thrown or spun). Most people say a bad tensioner quiets down around 2500RPM or more but I think mine is bad and is noisy at all RPMs when it acts up.

Interesting enough I went to a u-pull-it place in Orlando yesterday and the most common thing missing from every Rodeo/Passport with a V6 that I saw was the tensioner :iceslolan

If you've gone to the trouble to replace the timing belt might as well replace the tensioner. When I get time to replace my belt I'm going to replace everything accessible at that time (water pump, etc). so I don't have to do it again for several years.

There isn't no *might as well* replace the tensioner.....you better or you WILL be back into do it with a matter of weeks. That tensioner will fail if not replaced along with the new belt and waterpump...at minimum.

My timing belt tensioner made rattling noises at all RPM's when it was failing.

When I say might as well it means the same as should do something :icon16:

I changed my oil tonight and made no difference in the clacking/ticking sound (switched back to Rotella dino and installed one of the older ST filters since I bought a few at one time). The old oil had 7,000 miles on it and was sort of dirty with no metal flakes or particles, so, must be the tensioner being fussy (sometimes clacks, sometimes doesn't).