A buddy told me my timing was one tooth off and I didn't believe him at first

I spent three weekends trying to get a 1994 Civic to idle smooth, swapping out sensors and cleaning the throttle body. A friend who works at a shop stopped by and said he thought the timing belt was off by one tooth just from hearing it. I was stubborn about it because I'd lined up the marks myself, but I finally checked again with a flashlight and sure enough I was a tooth off on the cam gear. Took me about 45 minutes to redo it and the car idled perfect after that. Has anyone else had a buddy spot something obvious that you were blind to for weeks?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly_gonzalez611mo ago

Timing belt jobs are one of those things where your brain locks in on what you think is right. A buddy caught my distributor being off by a tooth on an old Subaru after I'd been fighting a stumble for a solid month. He just listened to it for about ten seconds and said check the cam timing again. Your mileage may vary but sometimes a fresh set of ears or eyes is all it takes, especially when you've stared at those marks too long. Good on you for actually going back and double checking, not everyone can admit they might have been wrong.

alex_coleman1mo ago

Getting that second set of eyes is huge. Holly, that fresh perspective is exactly what saved me on a Toyota once, a buddy walked over and spotted the crank pulley had slipped without me noticing.