My first time ever changin a timing belt. I can do anything on my 5.0 stang but 4cys are new to me. I'm trying to change the belt on my 99 Ranger 2.5L. My problem is trying to align the timing tabs. I have the plastic cover pulled off and see the pointer on the back cover for the cam and oil pump puley. When I align the diamond on the cam pulley with the timing pointer the oil pump diamond doesnt line up to its pointer. Am I doing something wrong? Also, looks like I have to remove the balancer to get the belt off the bottom? I have a haynes maunal but its a bit genaric lol. Any help appreciated!

 

the oil pump pulley doesnt get lined up. Line up the cam pulley (white spot on one of the teeth) and the crank pulley raised notch(line this one up with either 6-or 8 degrees top dead center according to the label under the hood of your truck, 10 degrees for high altitude according to haynes. whn the notches are lined up pull the jumper plug put it all back together start teh truck then insert jumper. good luck

 

Actually, on anything 95 and newer you DO have to align the auxiliary sprocket also because they have placed a cam position sensor on that sprocket. The truck will not start if all 3 sprockets are not lined up correctly. However I dont remember which marks you use to line them up, I can't remember if it is the diamond or the triangle marks, I feel that the diamond is not the one to use...

 

Align the timing marks.
Align the crankshaft sprocket mark to the front cover notch.
Align the oil pump sprocket diamond to the engine front cover diamond.
Align the camshaft sprocket triangle to the engine front cover triangle.

Install the timing chain/belt over the crankshaft sprocket (6306), proceeding counterclockwise over the oil pump sprocket and over the camshaft sprocket.

Loosen the bolt allowing the tensioner pulley to press against the timing chain/belt.

NOTE: The timing belt tensioner must not be tightened or belt tension will not be distributed over the entire belt.

Rotate the crankshaft two revolutions clockwise. Bring crank slowly to number one position firing position (keyway on crank facing up). The dot on the crankshaft gear is aligned with the notch on the front cover.
Recheck timing mark alignment. Repeat if required.
Tighten the bolts.

 

does thsi apply to 92 rangers? Ive got the extra pulley but i didnt see any marks anywhere for it and assumed it was jsut a spacersaver or oil pump.

 

no, the 92 only needs the crank and cam aligned, on the 91-94 the 3rd pulley only runs the oil pump and nothing else. On the 90 and older with distributors the 3rd pulley runs the oil pump and distributor also so you would need to either align the pulley or pully the distributor and reset the timing that way. On the 95-01 the 3rd pulley runs the oil pump and has a cam position sensor it HAS to be aligned properly when doing the belt.

 

do I use the long timing mark on the crank pulley and align it with the TC mark on the cover or is ther a mark on the crank "sprocket" itself that I need to align. I used the timing mark on the pulley and my truck ran good till i turned on the AC then it went ape S*** pinging and skipping like its a few degrees out of time