How to: Align the oil pump timing marks for the SOHC 2.4L (if it was disturbed)
Hey guys,
Came across a very informative post on a different forum today. If you go about changing the timing belt on your 2.4L SOHC engine, and, for whatever reason, you manage to spin the oil pump sprocket with the timing belt removed, you cannot simply rely on the timing marks alone to put it back where it was (unless you were very observant when you made your mistake!). The reason for this is because the rear engine balance shaft (driven by the oil pump) rotates twice for every single revolution of the pump sprocket. If you made a mistake and threw this oil pump + BS shaft out of time, fear not! Below is how to put it back in time:
Obvious requirements for this tip to work / apply to you:
1. You own a 2.4L SOHC galant engine with the rear balance shaft still installed.
2. You positioned the #1 cylinder at TDC before you removed the timing belt.
You can "feel" the balance shaft's influence on the oil pump as you turn the oil pump sprocket. If you align the oil pump timing marks and the oil pump sprocket feels like it wants to rotate and "run away" from the marks, it's 180 degrees out of time. Rotate it 180 degrees and try again, This time, you will feel the sprocket "want" to head towards the timing marks. When you feel this, you have got the timing correct.
Hope this helps somebody! Good luck with your timing belt replacement! Cheers :icon_biggrin: