# Do I have my timing belt properly aligned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** engines, subaru, timing-belts\ **Created:** [November 1, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828 "2020-11-01T20:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeelzebubKringle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BeelzebubKringle](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BeelzebubKringle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/1 "2020-11-01T20:16:49Z")
This is the first time I’ve ever tried changing my timing belt/water pump and so I’m overly cautious about not screwing up the timing and wrecking my engine. I just got the belt cover off and have been manually rotating the crank pulley to try and get all 3 marks aligned. I feel like I currently have the crankshaft sprocket aligned with the oil pump (pic 1)and the right side cam sprocket aligned with the cylinder head mark (pic 2) but I’m not confident about the left cam/cylinder head (pics 3&4) alignment. Hoping a more seasoned veteran can share their thoughts. Thanks! ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/2/4/24cb716b03ca71fe9274acaf51792807f5896606.jpeg) Well it will only let me post 1 pic. That’s the one in question. I’ll link to the other pics [Link to other pics](https://imgur.com/gallery/0zr9Jtb) ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/2 "2020-11-01T20:24:29Z")
Who the hell knows? All we know it’s a Subaru. No year. No engine size. Tester ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/3 "2020-11-01T21:29:52Z")
Does manual say to lock cam sprockets prior to removing belt? How do you do that? ---
**Author:** ![BeelzebubKringle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BeelzebubKringle](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BeelzebubKringle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/4 "2020-11-01T22:00:13Z")
Didn’t know the year of my car affected whether or not the timing marks aligned. It’s a 2011 Outback with 2.5 L H4SO engine. It’s also grey. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/5 "2020-11-01T22:03:48Z")
Did you walk into the parts store and just say, 'I need a timing belt for my Subaru"? Tester ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/6 "2020-11-01T22:26:49Z")
That looks like as close as it is going the be, timing belt marks are not always perfect, whether its a Subaru, Toyota or Ford. ---
**Author:** ![BeelzebubKringle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BeelzebubKringle](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BeelzebubKringle)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 2:30am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/7 "2020-11-02T02:30:12Z")
Store? I look down my nose with absolute derision at someone who would be so wasteful. I’ve got an old serpentine belt that I cut down and mended to OE specs. Ill be using that! ---
**Author:** ![asemaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@asemaster](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/8 "2020-11-02T03:08:59Z")
Looks good to me. ---
**Author:** ![glasspilot](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/glasspilot/32/27886_2.png) [@glasspilot](https://community.cartalk.com/u/glasspilot)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 3:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/9 "2020-11-02T15:36:00Z")
BeelzebubKringle, The marks don’t look exactly lined up to me. About one tooth off. Also, I see a white paint mark, then a stamped line (that I thought was the “mark”). Then on one of the spokes an arrow pointing outside. Long story short, we need more info. Lastly, I clicked your link to 3 more photos and only found one that was useless. Then other unrelated memes. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/10 "2020-11-02T15:53:06Z")
> [@BeelzebubKringle](#): > > Store? I look down my nose with absolute derision at someone who would be so wasteful. I’ve got an old serpentine belt that I cut down and mended to OE specs. Ill be using that! Mending an old belt ? That has to be a joke . ---
**Author:** ![thegreendrag0n](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/thegreendrag0n/32/9265_2.png) [@thegreendrag0n](https://community.cartalk.com/u/thegreendrag0n)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/11 "2020-11-02T18:49:05Z")
Try “teeth counting” method: the number of teeth between the center mark and camshaft marks is well known and easy to lookup over internet. I used to have 2.2L subaru where I had similar 1-tooth misalignment and although engine ran, it had unstable idle. mark looked similar to yours: hard to tell if this is 1 tooth off or not. I used a sharpie to put a mark every 10 teeth to make it easier and in few minutes I had the suspicion confirmed, it was indeed 1 off. Easy fix. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/12 "2020-11-02T19:27:04Z")
> [@VOLVO-V70](#): > > Mending an old belt ? That has to be a joke . We can only hope… But, some people are incredibly… thrifty. My oldest friend from my undergraduate days makes it his business to “shop” in peoples’ garbage cans once each week for what he terms “treasures”. For quite a while, his Dentist had been urging him to buy a _Waterpik_ device, but he balked at the “excessive” price. Finally, he found one in somebody’s garbage can, and started to use it. Within a week or so he had a raging fungal infection in his mouth. He also “washes” his dishes by rinsing them with cold water, and the result is that several times each year he has to pay a plumber to clear the drain of the congealed grease that results from his “money-saving” method of cleaning his dishes. I keep telling him that he can’t afford to “save money” the way that he does, but he just continues to shoot himself in the foot with his penny-pinching ways. And, because I help him with his income tax return, I know that he doesn’t need to live like a rag picker. Go figure! ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/13 "2020-11-02T19:36:05Z")
Of course is was a joke, a serpentine belt doesn’t have cogs. ---
**Author:** ![eddo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/eddo/32/2594_2.png) [@eddo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eddo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/14 "2020-11-02T20:14:56Z")
> [@Nevada\_545](#): > > Of course is was a joke, a serpentine belt doesn’t have cogs. it does if you notch it properly. ---
**Author:** ![BeelzebubKringle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BeelzebubKringle](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BeelzebubKringle)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/15 "2020-11-02T21:29:18Z")
It was. I just put that because the first person to respond and “help” was an ass. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/16 "2020-11-02T21:47:26Z")
Hope you do not take it personally, though I had a car shop teacher stranded in Africa that made a rotor out of a cork and a paper clip. ---
**Author:** ![BeelzebubKringle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BeelzebubKringle](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BeelzebubKringle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/17 "2020-11-03T19:06:12Z")
I didn’t put those white paint marks on. I guess the last person to do the timing belt did. I’m just going by the stamped lines which is what I assume I’m supposed to do. The repair manual says to line the stamped lines up at least. I’m not sure what the arrow on the crankshaft pulley is (that’s pointing right) but the white mark at the top is white paint over the stamped line (there’s another stamped line on the rear of the sprocket in the same position too). As far as the link that should take you to imgur where I posted the other pics. I just clicked it and it seems to work. Not sure if that gives you any more helpful info but if there’s anything else I can post that would help let me know. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![BeelzebubKringle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BeelzebubKringle](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BeelzebubKringle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/18 "2020-11-03T19:07:38Z")
Which I of course did. With a razor blade. The trick is to cut just under 1.4mm. Any deeper and it won’t hold. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/19 "2020-11-03T19:25:32Z")
> [@thegreendrag0n](#): > > Try “teeth counting” method: the number of teeth between the center mark and camshaft marks is well known and easy to lookup over internet. The OEM timing belts for my Nissan Pathfinders had marks on the timing belts. You aligned each mark with the timing mark on the sprocket. Guaranteed that number of teeth were correct. ---
**Author:** ![thegreendrag0n](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/thegreendrag0n/32/9265_2.png) [@thegreendrag0n](https://community.cartalk.com/u/thegreendrag0n)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-have-my-timing-belt-properly-aligned/171828/20 "2020-11-03T19:26:59Z")
since my belt was already in place, I took a lazy approach to make my own marks 🙂