2.4 Timing's off - possible causes?

[gargravarr]

Hi again,

I don't mean to ask so much, but I think I'm a little out of my depth with this one! My very knowledgeable neighbour helped me replace the injection pump and timing belt, but when we fired it up it was knocking very heavily, plenty of white smoke, so I think that means the timing's out?

We've checked all the marks line up on the engine pulleys and the pump body, and the tensioner's set correctly, so we've isolated a few possible causes:

1) No data from the crank position sensor - we yanked the wire out by accident when removing the old pump, and I think diesel might have gotten in the connector. My neighbour's hesitant to go with this, but his knowledge is of the 2L-T engine without EFI.

2) Crossed fuel lines to the injectors - my neighbour believes it's unlikely and I trust him on that, but I'm not overlooking it as a possibility, since he noted he'd managed to cross one of them over when we were fitting the new pump, which he corrected.

3) Something failed in the injection pump - hopefully a last resort, I really don't want to have to wrench the machine apart again!

Does anyone think we're on the right track with these ideas? Or are there any other common causes we might have overlooked?

Possibly related, the engine didn't realise it was running when we tried it - all the diagnostic lights were on while the engine was heaving and the 'ignition on' warning beeper began to sound after it fired up. I guess this means some kind of sensor isn't connected or the ECU is panicking.

I've read that an ECU reset (unplug the batteries for 8+ hours) might help, so I'm trying that, too.

We've called it a night and are going to resume tomorrow, so I'd love to get a second (or third!) opinion on our diagnostics - any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Gargravarr

[tonupteabag]

pump timing 180 degrees out i think, this is probably your easiest thing to check before condemning anything else.

[gargravarr]

pump timing 180 degrees out i think, this is probably your easiest thing to check before condemning anything else.

Would that be 180 degrees, or could it just be 90?

On rethinking, I remembered that the new timing belt has a sticker indicating that the injection pump timing mark is at a 3-o'clock position, but the timing mark on the actual engine is at 12-o'clock. We went with the 12-o'clock as it seemed most likely, but never checked for a 3-o'clock indicator. Is this right?

Cheers for the hint!
Gargravarr

[tonupteabag]

Check with the manual as i can't remember off the top of my head. best thing to do is ask TonyN as he will be able to tell you what it will be.

[gargravarr]

Check with the manual as i can't remember off the top of my head. best thing to do is ask TonyN as he will be able to tell you what it will be.

Thanks for the response, but I just checked the procedure and we did it right - crank 12-o'clock, cam 6-o'clock and pump 12-o'clock. I'll check in the morning if things are still lined up. I bet it's something stupid like one tooth out...

[tonupteabag]

As i was taught you never start the engine until, it has been turned by hand at least two full revolutions! Then time it up again and check all the marks are still aligned. once in line check the belt tension, readjust if necessary. Then check again and keep checking and rechecking as a little haste with this procedure could end in engine failure.