Camshaft timing off by 1 tooth.

Don’t worry about the marks on the belt. Get your motor to top dead center and use the actual marks on the crank pulley/cam sprocket to see if it’s accurate. This is the only way to tell if it’s actually off.

You don't use a belt for timing marks, you use the engine and cam gear markings.   Ignore your mark and do timing properly.

Common mitsi v6 belt struggle. You would have had it timed correctly but not enough tension between bank one and two along the water pump pulley. People often leave too much slack there. You need start with the water pump and then over both cams so you don’t leave an extra too...

I don’t know why everyone is talking about the belt. Ignore the belt. You can see the cam to mark is off by a tooth. OP, you need to fix it and then enjoy the better running engine that results. If you don’t know what to do to fix it, take it to someone who does.

Lol everyone is acting like this is a huge deal/ you dont know what your doing and your gonna total your engine😭 just make sure the crank gear is aligned to tdc marking then if the cam is one tooth off buy a new belt and tensioner and replace them and ensure all timing marks ...

You don't need to mark the belt.... Line up the marks on the engine and install the belt, then turn it over a couple times. Recheck marks.

Pic 1 is off by 1 tooth. Pic 2 is so slightly off it could just be from the old belt stretching. Make sure crank is lined up and if so leave everything there. When you go to put the new belt on turn the cam to lineup where it is supposed to. Turning it that little won’t hurt a...

It’s totally possible who ever timed it last was off a tooth as well. Usually would throwing a timing code but it depends on how sensitive the PCM is…. It is … a Mitsu…

Okay your original question is that you are checking the marks before you even take the old belt off. With that information, looking at your pictures, whoever installed the previous belt has it one tooth off. Just install it correctly when you put the next one on. Remembe...

Assuming your 2nd pic is at TDC, it looks correct. If you were to move the belt 1 tooth in either direction, its going to me miles off your timing mark. The marks often don't line up exactly (especially if the head and or block have been skimmed), you just have to set it to th...

Tell me more about the evil turd that lives inside your engine and wears a mask like mortan joe

many reasons why the old belt no longer look aligned. belt stretch is one. purposefully advancing the cam by a tooth is two and there are others depending on the history of the car. only thing that matters is that the marks on the metal pulleys are at TDC. if you do not trust...

The belt keeps it in time. To time it correctly you need to align the marks on the cam shafts with the engine at TDC.

Use a timing light.

You are on the left side of a tooth in one picture and the right side of the other. Properly time the engine and do it right if you are concerned about timing being correct

Remove the marks from the belt. They're not helping nor are they straight. Rotate the crank until cylinder one is TDC. Recheck all three timing marks on the gears in relation to the marks on the engine. Lock the cams in position, remove belt, carefully adjust the cam that's ...

It definitely looks like it’s off a tooth. I would put it where it should be and it will probably run better lol. I had an old Honda that was off by a tooth once when I was doing the second belt.

1st pic is several teeth off isn’t it? The timing cover has the orange mark on a cast marking, and your gear mark is at least 10° off clockwise

What I dont see anyone mentioning is - are you on the drive side of the belt tension?. Using the crankshaft pulley rotate your engine, by hand, 1/2 turn counter clockwise. Now rotate clockwise back to the timing marks and see how they line up.

I have the same engine, did mine last year. A little play is normal on these engines but to me this looks 1 tooth off. If you never tightened the tensioner it could have skipped a tooth. Follow the factory service manual. I can dig it out if you cant find it.

I hope for your sake this is the non interference 93-older 12v engine and not the later 24v engine because if it's 24v, you're gonna have a bad time.

I've seen people shift this by putting a screwdriver between the belt and sprocket and rolling it between so it shifts every belt tooth by 1. I've never done it.

Are you sure the belt on the right way. I made this mistake and it looked similar to your photos.

Your line looks wack

Please stop listening to these people. They have no clue, you marked the locations right. Now with the cams set to how they are in the picture mark the harmonic balancer. With a paint pen like you did with that cams and the timing cover near the balancer making those two marks...

Me its close enough

If a machine shop has milled the cylinder head the belt will be too long & any markings won’t align.

Just draw a new line. Should do it....

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The best way to know if you're one tooth off or not, is to count the teeth. That's what I always had to do on my Nissan VG 30 engines

Might have been this way from the factory or the last person who did the belt. I just did a timing belt change. Don’t over think it. Just make sure it’s lined up when you put the new belt on. The cam might slightly move, don’t panic you can move it slightly either direction to...

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The grove in the top shield

Trust your own alignment and those on the sprockets, it was good. and double check that you have the correct timing belt with the same length and tooth.

make sure they’re tdc and you can rotate the individual cams with that bolt in the middle there of each cam so you can turn one cam either a little forward or backward to fine adjust.

Pic 2 is in good shape, sorry if I can't see the mark in picture 1. To the best of my knowledge you cant line up the marks with an old belt as it has probably stretched a little. Get it close. Remove everything. Make sure youre at TDC. Line all the marks up. Put the new b...

 It’s a non interference engine. But still, we’re dealing with some dense grey matter here.

I honestly believe you put the belt on backwards, as in the backside of the belt in the photos was the front side when you made the marks. It is not possible for your marks on the belt to align with the cam gears as is shown in the photos. You can even see where your line devi...

I’m no mechanic but I’m pretty sure marking a belt means nothing since it’s a third party item and is only there to turn the pullys. The pullys are only thing that should be lined up, not the belt.

You've already messed up. Next time, line up your sprockets with the timing marks first. Mark the old belt where the sprocket marks are before you take it off. After you take it off, count the teeth between your marks and mark the new belt, then install the new belt to match m...

I don’t trust paint, the timing mark (on the cam gear) should be more permanent than a dash of paint. Get the service manual for the vehicle/engine and follow what it says for timing.

With engines with chains, chains wear and stretch which retards the timing much more than this yet keep on running.

It could be what is known a parallax, that is, the relative position of your view (in this case the camera ) to the line that you are looking at.

If you need to mark the belt, you have no clue what you are doing....