broken timing belt

[native-born-texan]

Hello,
I have a 1996 Ranger with a 2.3 engine with 8 spark plugs. The timing belt broke when it was idling so there should not be any valve damage. I have taken off every thing needed to repair it including the water pump which needed to be replaced any way but short of taking off the overhead valve cover to see when the compression valve closes (which should be TDC) is there any other way to find it. I can put it together by matching all the marks on the crank, oil pump, and cam but there is a 50% chance of being 180 degrees off. Can anyone give me the procedure to start from scratch on timing it. I do not know if I can turn the cam sprocket while holding my finger on the spark plug hole and feel compression or not. Hopefully there is a way to do it and someone can tell me

 

[smokey]

crank the engine over by hand with your finger over plug hole one. You will feel air pushing on your finger this is the compression stroke,line the marks up from there and you should be good.

 

[Fellro]

Actually, the crank spins 2 times per one turn of the cam. If you have the cam lined up, just line the crank. The crank doesn't have a different setting for compression vs exhaust. The cam will tell you tdc for the valves by lining the mark to it's reference mark. The crank should line up to it's mark, and things are fine. I always test spin the motor by hand to be sure the timing is set right, not one tooth off. After a full rotation and everything loines back up to their respective marks, then I will move on.

 

[native-born-texan]

Thank you if I have it right when all the marks are lined up every thing will take care of itself. I must have thought about changing a distributor which can be 180 deg off

 

[Fellro]

You are correct. The older 2.3 had a distributor that was run by a balance shaft, which still would be timed.