The timing belt broke on my 97 ranger 2.3 while driving I have everything torn do I have to spin the crankshaft pulley to a compression stroke before I set the oil pump and cam shaft?

 

As far as I remember the 2.3 is a non interference engine.

I would remove the exhaust side spark plugs if it is a 4 plug engine. ( to make the engine easier to rotate by hand )

Then just align all the marks according to the service manual.

Make sure to replace any maintenance items you can while you have it opened up.

When you have all the marks lined up and are ready to install the belt I like to get the belt positioned on the crank and the oil pump gear then with the cam gear turned slightly clockwise I install the belt then rotate the camshaft back counter clockwise to take the slack out of the belt before releasing the belt tensioner and tightening it up.

If you do it this way you will end up with the belt properly installed and correct tension on the belt.

Sometimes if you just align all the marks install the belt and release the tensioner to apply tension on the belt then tighten the tensioner bolts your timing marks may be off once you rotate the engine over a few rotations because non tensoner side of the belt may have had slack.

No matter how you accomplish installing the belt, make sure to rotate the engine over a few times then realign all the marks making sure all the marks are aligned and the belt has proper tension on it.

 

Welcome to the forum


Crank doesn't have a "compression" stroke
Crank has Top Dead Center(TDC) for #1 piston

The 4 strokes are set by the Cam position
Compression stroke
Power stroke
Exhaust stroke
Intake stroke

Are all set by Cam/valve positions

So you set Crank to #1 TDC then set Cam to Compression stroke, Triangles matched up, do NOT used diamond
You also set AUX gear to its mark(diamonds) so Cam Position sensor is matched to Cam Gear, they are both the same size so AUX gear is used to tell computer where Cam gear is in its rotation

 

I got it thanks for the help

 

Good work