Test run after seals and timing belt change

[Ocdfisher]

After buttoning up everything on my '01 Montero xls, there sounded like top end noise. I've pulled everything back apart down to reinstalling the timing belt. Should the return side of the belt have a little slack before getting on the crankshaft gear? I can get both cam indicator s lined up with the belt being pretty taught. I also counted belt teeth on old belt before removing.
I'm thinking that the belt was too tight between driver's cam and crankshaft and it is causing the crank timing mark to be off counterclockwise about a tooth.
Also, is it same to test run without installing the accessory plate for a few seconds?

 

[nwoods]

How would you even do that? Run it without the accessory plate and related pulleys and things on it?

Any way, my suggestion would be NO. this is an interference engine, meaning, the piston will kiss the valves if the timing is off. It could end up looking like this

 

[Ocdfisher]

Is valve damage a sure thing with cam shaft rotation and piston stroke? I'm thinking that rotating the crankshaft by hand with the camshaft pulleys on timing marks could have bent some valves.
I'm going to try reinstalling the belt with all the timing marks lined up and see if the noise goes away. The engine ran perfect before my attempt at this job. I'm a sbc guy!?

 

[nwoods]

No I highly doubt you could bend anything by hand. You are supposed to rotate the engine a few times by hand when checking the timing.

 

[Ocdfisher]

Yes I did rotate a couple times after setting tension before I ran it, and all the timing marks lined up then. But after running it was one notch off on crank gear. I did rotate the camshafts separate from the crankshaft without the belt that is where my concern with the bent valves comes from.

 

[normal_dave]

Take a look here and see if anything pops a light over your head... I wish it was all in one place, but there are several things that can trip us up on these jobs.
6G74 Timing Belt
3.0L timing marks
3.5L Timing Tensioner Discussion

 

[Ocdfisher]

Thanks for the replies. I actually read all of those before deciding to do the work myself. The noisy lifter thing, does kind of sound possible. I believe the noise was coming from both heads, and I know that if there was piston to valve contact, it would have most likely been #1 cylinder. I only let it run for a few minutes, fearing possible internal damage. The lifters getting bled out when turnin the cam gears, and having air makes sense. I'm going to get the belt back on and get it started again and see what happens

 

[coffeegoat]

You can - and should - prefill your lifters. If they're operating properly (not leaking and not dirty) they'll hold oil pressure if you manually pump them full of oil. It's pretty easy to do, just get a container of oil, submerse the lifter, and depress the center valve a few times. If they're really dirty, you can soak them in diesel or seafoam or something and flush them out a few times first, but make sure they hold pressure before you use them. If they're not working correctly, they'll make a noise like a sewing machine. But that could also be a cracked exhaust manifold...

 

[nckwltn]

when installing the belt, I always seem to end up with a little slack on the driver's side while installing.... if I put the belt on with the crank gear and cam gears at the marks, the crank seems to be off...

what I usually do is rotate the crank backwards (counter clockwise) about 1/2-1 tooth. That way when the crank turns clockswise, the slack is taken out and the marks line up across all 3 gears. (leave the cams right on the marks when installing).

 

[Ocdfisher]

I got the belt on and tensioned correctly. Quadruple checked all the timing marks after rotatingseveral times with the pin in and out before I put the front end back together. It runs really smooth, but still had the valve train noise. I did the rpm/ idle cycling from the service manual. It sounds like 95% of it is gone. Could need more cycles to get the air out of the lash adjusters. Thanks to all for the input.
Now I need to ecm to relearn transmission shifting, seems a little off now.