Chosen Solution
2006 KIA Sorento 3.5L engine. Will be replacing water pump and timing belt, but ran into an issue that won’t let me continue. Car was running perfect prior to starting this job. I’ve done several timing belts and water pumps on various vehicles. I’ve removed the upper and lower timing belt covers and associated components. I lined up the timing marks on the four camshaft sprokets. Don’t want to continue until I clear up the issue I have. The issue is that when I aligned the timing marks on the four camshaft sprokets, the timing mark on the crankshaft was off by four teeth. Crankshaft would have to rotate 4 teeth clokwise in order to align with its timing mark. Why is this happening? ‘ Looks like crankshaft is set for cylinder 6 at TDC, yet the camshafts are set for cylinder 1 at TDC. Engine was working fine. The belt hasn’t been taken off.
It’s hard to know what’s going on without seeing it, but I would suggest double-checking that you are using the correct reference for the crankshaft timing mark. It is kinda offset to one side at 45˚, not vertical.
If all else fails, lock all of your timing pulleys in place and replace the timing belt. If it was running fine before, it will run fine after too if you keep the same timing. I hope this helps.
