MAP Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I had a burnt valve on cylinder 2. 2005 Legacy GT. I had a valve job done on on the head. I finally put everything back together and got the engine started. It started right up. Here's the issue. With car in park, I press on accelerator and it is not very responsive. It will also only rev up to 3200RPM. I am wondering if one of the cams are off. In my hurry to take things apart, I failed to mark the belt at the various timing marks on the crank and camshaft. I was hesitant to use the same belt but didn't want to spend on a new one since I only replaced it about 35,000 miles ago. I'm pretty sure I aligned all the marks properly. I'm wondering whether the old belt stretched a bit though. When I installed the new belt a couple years back, I recall that after aligning the timing marks and releasing the tensioner, the marks on sprockets of the left head moved slightly. The car ran fine though so it must have been normal. I've idled the car for a total of 1.5 hours or so and don't have any check engine lights. The vacuum seems pretty good at about 20inHg. The idle is smooth. Per my scanner, the timing at idle varies slightly between 15-17 degrees. At wide open throttle my scanner reads 78% open throttle so the ECM does acknowledge that I'm flooring the gas pedal. Any suggestions would be welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAP Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 I'm going to take a $25 gamble and replace the crankshaft position sensor before I remove that belt again. Those timing marks were right on. If that doesn't work I'm replacing the belt with a new one but I'll be sure to mark the old belt to compare with new. Hopefully I can get this done in half a day. I'll report results. Anyone have a better suggestion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.lee89 Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 How does the car drive? I think the car maybe in limp in mode if its slow to rev up and only only reaches 3200rpm. Even tho the CEL isnt on they're maybe pending codes stored. I would at least disconnect the battery for 5mins. And when you hook the battery back up don't start it up right away. First turn the key on for 15secs then off for 10 secs then on for 10 secs. Now you can start it and let it idle for at least 5mins without touching the gas pedal. The timing belt on these cars are usually premarked so when you install the belt it makes it idiot proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAP Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 I didnt bother driving it. There is no point if it doesn't even rev past 3200rpm at wide open throttle. As I mentioned i reused the old belt. It no longer had marks. But im pretty sure the cam marks were spot on. Going to install the crank position sensor in a few. There are no check engine codes and no pending codes per my scanner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAP Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 By the way the vehicle has had the battery disconnected since September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Stupid question - but have you checked the air intake so you don't have anything hiding there? Ranging from rag to dead rat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAP Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 Not a stupid question. I'm checking that next. It's been in the back of my mind since last night. When i took everything apart, i stuck those blue shop paper towels into all the intake ducts, and intake ports. I'm pretty sure I removed them all. But checking that next. No go on the crankshaft position sensor. It behaves the same way. It feels like the timing is retarded. The throttle is slow to respond and the engine will not rev past around 3200rpm. Going to take the covers off and check timing marks on cams after the towel check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08SpecB_DE Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Marks on the belts are not important. The cam and crank markings being off will affect how it drives. Belt markings are just a reference point to make belt installation easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAP Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 Well I decided the take the timing covers off to check the timing marks on the sprockets. They were slightly off but nothing excessive and they appeared similar to the first time I replaced the belt. Since I already had both sides exposed and bought the new belt, I decided to mark the belt at all the timing marks and proceeded to remove the belt. When I finally removed it, I checked it against the new belt. Guess what? The marks matched exactly, although the new belt was more stiff. I installed the new belt and released the tensioner. The timing mark alignment moved slightly and basically matched the marks prior to removing the old belt. So basically the issue was not the belt or timing marks. SH!!!!t I should have done what I was originally going to do which was check for blue towels in the intake air tube connected to the turbo. So i remove the flexible hose between the air box and intake tube that runs under then intake manifold. I stick my little mirror at the end of a telescopic handle into the intake tube and shine my flashlight. I expect to see the turbo's compressor wheel but am hoping to see a towel. ...... Double SH!!!t. Ehsnils guessed it. Here's a pic of what I found. I had to use a flexible grabber thing to fish it out. It's always the simple things that seem to get me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAP Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 I forgot to mention the engine is running fine. The idle is smooth. Revs normal now. I hadn't driven this thing since early September. It's stock but man it hauls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gex Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 It's always the little things! Glad to see you resolved the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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