Just blew the timing belt on my 1994 Tracker. It is a 1.6L 8 valve
motor. I am having problems getting it back up and running, are there
any tricks to it? Does the belt have to be installed for the
alternator? There are a few timing marks on the cam sprocket and tried
them all and @ 180 degrees out too. The cylinders have great
compression and there is spark and gas, only getting backfire, I
checked dist and the wire routing and all is good there. Any help would

be appriciated. Please email to: rockett_conce...@hotmail.com. Thanks
in advance.

Rock

<rockett_concepts@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1167868395.861494.142720@31g2000cwt.googlegro ups.com...

> Just blew the timing belt on my 1994 Tracker. It is a 1.6L 8 valve
> motor. I am having problems getting it back up and running, are there
> any tricks to it? Does the belt have to be installed for the
> alternator? There are a few timing marks on the cam sprocket and tried
> them all and @ 180 degrees out too. The cylinders have great
> compression

What is "great compression"? I don't know if this is an interference
engine, but if it is, you'd need to look at the valves. That said, if the
compression reads to spec on each cylinder, I would not be suspicious of
valve damage.

> and there is spark and gas, only getting backfire, I
> checked dist and the wire routing and all is good there. Any help would
>

You did get number one cylinder up to TDC when you aligned the camshaft
timing marks, right? Can you take a picture and post a link to it, of the
marks you mention on the camshaft? I have never worked on this particular
engine, but I'm having a hard time imagining "a few" timing marks on a cam.
What are you trying to line the mark(s) on the camshaft up with?

Sorry if I'm asking questions that may be below your skill level, but it's
hard to tell from your post if you've ever done this kind of work before and
if you're familiar with timing a cam.

--

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net

"Mike Marlow" <mmarlow@alltel.net> wrote in message
>> Just blew the timing belt on my 1994 Tracker. It is a 1.6L 8 valve
>> motor. I am having problems getting it back up and running, are there
>> any tricks to it? Does the belt have to be installed for the
>> alternator? There are a few timing marks on the cam sprocket and tried
>> them all and @ 180 degrees out too. The cylinders have great
>> compression
>
> What is "great compression"? I don't know if this is an interference
> engine, but if it is, you'd need to look at the valves. That said, if the
> compression reads to spec on each cylinder, I would not be suspicious of
> valve damage.

Gates does not list the 8 valve as an interference engine so he was lucky.

The compression was well within spec. I did put #1 on tdc to set the
cam and check the distributor. I have done many timing jobs (belts and
chains) to realize this one is a pain in the arse. I will get some pics
up tonight. Thanks,

Rock


Mike Marlow wrote:
> <rockett_concepts@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1167868395.861494.142720@31g2000cwt.googlegro ups.com...
>
> > Just blew the timing belt on my 1994 Tracker. It is a 1.6L 8 valve
> > motor. I am having problems getting it back up and running, are there
> > any tricks to it? Does the belt have to be installed for the
> > alternator? There are a few timing marks on the cam sprocket and tried
> > them all and @ 180 degrees out too. The cylinders have great
> > compression
>
> What is "great compression"? I don't know if this is an interference
> engine, but if it is, you'd need to look at the valves. That said, if the
> compression reads to spec on each cylinder, I would not be suspicious of
> valve damage.
>
> > and there is spark and gas, only getting backfire, I
> > checked dist and the wire routing and all is good there. Any help would
> >
>
> You did get number one cylinder up to TDC when you aligned the camshaft
> timing marks, right? Can you take a picture and post a link to it, of the
> marks you mention on the camshaft? I have never worked on this particular
> engine, but I'm having a hard time imagining "a few" timing marks on a cam.
> What are you trying to line the mark(s) on the camshaft up with?
>
> Sorry if I'm asking questions that may be below your skill level, but it's
> hard to tell from your post if you've ever done this kind of work before and
> if you're familiar with timing a cam.
>
> --
>
> -Mike-
> mmarlowREMOVE@alltel.net

In article
<1167868395.861494.142720@31g2000cwt.googlegroups. com>,
rockett_concepts@hotmail.com wrote:

> Just blew the timing belt on my 1994 Tracker. It is a 1.6L 8 valve
> motor. I am having problems getting it back up and running, are there
> any tricks to it? Does the belt have to be installed for the
> alternator?

No.

> There are a few timing marks on the cam sprocket and tried
> them all and @ 180 degrees out too.

My information shows only one timing mark on the cam sprocket
which should be lined up with the notch in the rear of the timing
belt cover at 12 o'clock. Crankshaft mark is set at 12 o'clock
also.

> The cylinders have great
> compression and there is spark and gas, only getting backfire, I
> checked dist and the wire routing and all is good there. Any help would
>
> be appriciated. Please email to: rockett_conce...@hotmail.com. Thanks
> in advance.

When you took the crank pulley off, did you remove the 1 main
bolt in the center or the 5 bolts around it?
I've seen the crankshaft key sheared on these things so it may be
worth checking also.

I removed the one bolt for the harmonic balancer. I will have to look
at the crankshaft key. thanks for the input.

Rock

aarcuda69062 wrote:
> In article
> <1167868395.861494.142720@31g2000cwt.googlegroups. com>,
> rockett_concepts@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> > Just blew the timing belt on my 1994 Tracker. It is a 1.6L 8 valve
> > motor. I am having problems getting it back up and running, are there
> > any tricks to it? Does the belt have to be installed for the
> > alternator?
>
> No.
>
> > There are a few timing marks on the cam sprocket and tried
> > them all and @ 180 degrees out too.
>
> My information shows only one timing mark on the cam sprocket
> which should be lined up with the notch in the rear of the timing
> belt cover at 12 o'clock. Crankshaft mark is set at 12 o'clock
> also.
>
> > The cylinders have great
> > compression and there is spark and gas, only getting backfire, I
> > checked dist and the wire routing and all is good there. Any help would
> >
> > be appriciated. Please email to: rockett_conce...@hotmail.com. Thanks
> > in advance.
>
> When you took the crank pulley off, did you remove the 1 main
> bolt in the center or the 5 bolts around it?
> I've seen the crankshaft key sheared on these things so it may be
> worth checking also.