Timing belt installation and cam rotation

[Robert Scheck]

I think I have done something extremely stupid. While replacing the timing belt in my F6A engine, I mistakenly rotated the intake cam 360 degrees while the belt was off. I realigned the timing marks. But upon reassembly the engine does not start. How much damage have I probably done to the engine? Will this require a top end teardown or is a simpler repair required? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Rob

[Ian Linden]

Did you feel any resistance when rotating the camshaft through 360 deg? It is documented as an interference engine, so it is surprising you could do that without encountering resistance. If that did not happen, perhaps the crankshaft was in such a position that contact did not occur (e.g. no piston at or near TDC). Having aligned the camshaft correctly to the mark and installing the belt, no contact would result from subsequently rotating the crankshaft, of course.

Perhaps there is another reason the engine will not start.

[Martin Hartmann]

Hi Robert,
I agree with Ian - a cam rotation must not necessarily lead to damaged valves. To exclude this failure, You can easily perform a compression test.

But I think it is more likely You have a second error. My first thought was: Inlet camshaft drives the ignition distributor, and therefore the firing order is affected. On the other hand, a full rotation should have no effect on ignition timing. Please doublecheck the alignment of the timing marks. I myself did a one-tooth-error 15 years ago on my Toyota Corolla engine due to bad visibility of the alignment. Engine run extreme bad and had massive starting problems, which was very unusual.

Next idea is to check the arrangement of ignition lines, if You took them off during the replacement of the belt. Just to prevent mistakes in firing order.

Have good luck and please keep us informed!
Martin

[Robert Scheck]

Thank you very much. I will look into your recommendations.

[Robert Scheck]

I finally got the time and the courage to remove the timing belt cover and see if I could determine the problem. That turned out to be easy. The timing marks were so far out of alignment it wouldn't be possible to get them further misaligned if that was my intent. I removed the belt, realigned the marks, buttoned up everything, jumped in, crossed my fingers and fired that mother up (Thank you Charlie Daniels Band). It fired up and ran well. The idle is smooth and there are no unwanted sounds. The engine runs fine. Thank you for the encouragement and tech info.

There is one other thing I hope you can provide help with. After replacing the timing belt and all the associated parts I had an oil leak. The higher the engine rpm's the greater the leak. It was leaking from the cranks seal. It is possible but not likely the seal was defective. It is very possible I installed the seal incorrectly or damaged it upon installation. I purchased Suzuki Genuine Part number 09283-32042, which the seller claimed is for the f6a engine. After installing that seal I seal have a slight leak. This first seal was leaving puddles. Now it's a few drops. If I keep the revs below 3,000 it doesn't leak. Above 5,000 it's a bit more. Is this normal for this engine? And did I use the correct seal? The parts catalog on the SCORE website lists the part number as 09283-32038. Should I change the seal?

Thank you very much for all the support that you provide.

[Ian Linden]

I would say that leakage from that seal is not normal - at least I can't recollect it being mentioned. However, it may be that it will "settle down" with some running ??? Ever the optimist!

The Amayama site https://www.amayama.com/en/part/suzuki/0928332042 shows that 09283-32042 is fitted as the seal in question in the F6A engine, so it would appear to be an alternative to the original seal. (Click on the drawing on the right, just below the photo of the seal).