Engine not wanting to rev after cambelt change, fubar?

[OOjoeE30]

Well as the title states I fitted a new belt, waterpump and stat, rotated the engine through 4 cycles twice once the new belt was on and everything lined up. Upon starting it doesnt want to idle and wont rev past 1500.
It looks as if the timings out and I may have damaged the valves,pistons please tell me different

[kam-325i]

if the timing was that far out for the valves to hit the pistons, you would of found it hard to turn the engine over by hand....

[OOjoeE30]

could over tensioning the belt cause these symptoms

[kam-325i]

could over tensioning the belt cause these symptoms

No.

What engine ?

[OOjoeE30]

m20b20

[Grrrmachine]

Since you have to remove a lot of stuff to get to the belt, are you sure you've not done something silly like putting the HT leads back on in the wrong order?

[bigwinn]

or done something to snag the accelerator cable?

Is the pedal going to the floor but not revving?

[chh137]

Ignition timing?

[kam-325i]

did you mark the dizzy rotor arm before you took of the old belt ?

[OOjoeE30]

The pedals going to the floor and its a k jet so theres no dizzy at the front I just moved the cables up out the way.
I put force on the tensioner when tightening so I will re do that first and check the dizzy as I may have pulled on the cable when moving them.

[Grrrmachine]

Oh god, if this is K-jet exactly how old is it? K-Jet was for only the earliest of the early engines, IIRC.

[kam-325i]

I know that the dizzy is not on the front, its on the side, by the inlet manifold, but its drive comes of the cam belt via a toothed wheel.

On the M20b25 there are two timing marks for the crank and cam, on the m20b20, you also have to make sure the dizzy drive wheel is set correctly.

You have to make sure that the M20B20 is set to TDC with the rotor arm in the dizzy pointing at no.1 lead.

[chh137]

Ignition timing one or two teeth out. try moving distributor in eng block one way or the other and see/hear any improvement.If so its a timming/strobe light job.

[OOjoeE30]

Ok thanks for the help will have a look at the rotary arm tomorrow.

[OOjoeE30]

could someone also tell me the clearance for the crank position sensor to the pulley just so I can rule that out.

[kam-325i]

the crank position sensor is keyed and can only be fitted in the correct position. If it has failed, the engine wont start at all.

[OOjoeE30]

Oh ok I knew it would most likely not allow the engine to start just grasping at straws on others engine I have used a feeler gauge to set the correct distance

[kam-325i]

Your problem sounds like that the toothed wheel that drives the dizzy has moved either forward or back one tooth.

you can test this by undoing the clamp that holds the dizzy to the block, just enough to turn the dizzy, turn it a few mm anti-clockwise, then run the engine and see if its any better, if not, turn the dizzy clockwise.

[chh137]

Your problem sounds like that the toothed wheel that drives the dizzy has moved either forward or back one tooth.

you can test this by undoing the clamp that holds the dizzy to the block, just enough to turn the dizzy, turn it a few mm anti-clockwise, then run the engine and see if its any better, if not, turn the dizzy clockwise.

See 2 hours ago.

[kam-325i]

just reinforcing your advice, with a guide on what might of happened and how to do it.......

[OOjoeE30]

Right I have removed the belt and refitted it with the intermediate shaft rotated a tooth the car now starts and revs out but seems to not idle high enough and doesnt seem to pull above 3-4k rpm.
Have I moved it to far or not enough ? Do I need to adjust the timing at the dizzy as I have had it on and off several times? The dizzy and rotary seem to be the original 27 year old ones and look a bit worse for wear.
Hope I can get to the bottom of this i may need to just drive the car as I need to be back in surrey for work in the morn and I'm currently in Essex.

[OOjoeE30]

I also noticed when looking about the engine that a vacuum from the dizzy had come away from the Tb this was after I had been messing around trying to improve the idle.

[kam-325i]

The vacuum pipe is for timming advance/retard. i think.....

[OOjoeE30]

There is a mark on the upper face of the distributor case that is visible with the cap removed. When you line up the crank and cam marks, you need to ensure that the rotor arm lines up with this mark on the dizzy.

I am at work right now so dont have a handy pic to post showing you the mark. I will post one later if you need it. From the sounds of it, you cant be more than a tooth or 2 out on the dizzy timing, but there is not enough adjustment in the dizzy to adjust the timing to cope with a tooth out, so unfortunately you will need to retime it at the belt.

Could I have a pic of this please if it isnt to much trouble I have looked at every possible problem I think the intermediate shaft must still be out so am going to pull it apart again

[OOjoeE30]

Right as mentioned the car starts and runs but is down on power here are some pics hopefully you will be able to see where I went wrong.

[OOjoeE30]

I took the belt off and refitted it with the intermediate shaft moved one more tooth and it was third time lucky the car runs as it did before the attempted belt replacement. So that little saga is over maybe it would be worth making a note of the shaft position in the wiki tutorial, so no one as silly as myself makes the mistake.

[Speedtouch]

Little tip for you; you can safely remove that spring-loaded centrifugal rev limiter built into the rotor arm, as it brutally cuts the ignition dead at 6,000 rpm, which can be a nuisance if you're getting a move on.

The ECU has a built-in rev limiter, which cuts in more progressively at 6,250 rpm, so you have a bit longer to snatch another gear.

[OOjoeE30]

I have got a new arm to put on there but it looks completely different with just the single contact point, is this correct and will it remove the limiter then?

[Speedtouch]

It doesn't sound correct, but if it's the right size and fits, then it may well be OK.

Be wary though, in case the rotor contact hits the inside of the distributor cap - I had one do that, once, and it ruined an almost new cap!

[OOjoeE30]

I dont want to possible damage the old one removing it so will offer it up and see, I got it from a motorfactors it was the only other one the guy had apart from the motronic variety.

[Speedtouch]

They are usually pretty tough, and in any case, should just pull off fairly easily, but yes, it's wise to offer it up first and ensure it is of similar dimensions to the original.