Well Im doing a cam seal replacement and the progress was good till I inadvertently rotated the crank pulley counter -clockwise.Dont ask me why. I am confident that the camshaft is at TDC as evident from removing the spark plug and checking for compression with my fingers..peeping thru the oil cap opening on the valve cover and noting the positions of the no , one and two lobes. When I mistakenly rotated the crank conterclockwise I heard a few clicking sounds near the crank pulley which I believe is the crank slipping over the teeth of the timing belt. I now need to set the crankshaft at TDC and want to be sure I will do it correctly. First of all on the back plastic plate of the lower cover is a "zero" reference , pretty much in the vertical position. To the left I see 10 and 20. BTDC I think those numbers are. I have an aftermarket pulley/balancer and there is a notch on the edges of the pulley. To achieve TDC should this notch be in alignment with the "0" on the back plastic plate ? Right now the notch is at 20 degrees.

Just a follow up to let you all know that I staretd the car and it runs well , at least at idle. I am prety sure it will be fine and thank you all for your help.

It sounds like you are correct about the notches in the pulley. You could stick a long skinny screwdriver in the #1 spark plug hole to feel the piston position while turning the crank CW back up to the "0" (TDC) mark. This is not a very exacting method but it will tell you if you are in the ballpark. If it looks to be very close then you "probably" have the correct mark identified on the pulley. Did you not make note of the timing marks on the crank pulley and the cam sprocket before you pulled the belt loose?

"...I am confident that the camshaft is at TDC as evident from removing the spark plug and checking for compression with my fingers..peeping thru the oil cap opening on the valve cover and noting the positions of the no , one and two lobes..."

This is not at all an exacting way to tell if the cam is at TDC. You could be quite a few degrees off of TDC and both cam lobes will still show closed valves. Instead, make sure the timing mark on the sprocket aligns with the mark that is molded into the inside of the rear belt cover. If you are very tall, you need to bend over and peer back into the rear cover, looking just over the top of the sprocket. Don't mistakenly use the little circle that is sometimes molded into the front lip of the rear cover, or you will end up with the cam a couple teeth out of time. Go ahead and ask me how I know this....

Here is a link to a good image of the cam timing marks:

http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/B230FTimingBeltAlignment.htm

Once you get it all aligned and the belt is back on and tensioned, rotate the crank two complete revolutions in the direction the engine runs and make sure both the crank "0" mark and the cam timing mark come into alignment at the same time. Ignore all the stupid little lines that are painted on the belt.

Chris..you had me looking again. Specifically the circle you mentioned that was on the back plate. I did see them . There were two in the proximity of the "raised" timing marker. Luckily for me I aligned the sprocket marker with the raised one at about the 11:30 position. Frankly I did not check the crank end initially . I will as you recommend do two rotations just to be sure everything lines up

Yes I did note the mark on the cam sprocket and aligned it with the mark on the back plate. Prior to this I made sure that the engine was nearing TDC evident from the compression felt when I put my finger in No.1 plug hole. I also confrmed it with the no. 1 and 2 lobes on the cam. I messed up when for some reason%$%$#%^ I turned the crank counter clockwise and heard the clicking sound from the crankshaft end. I knew then that I had placed the bottom end out of timing. Hence my query.

Randy, Thanks for the link ..Im gonna take a look at the car...anyways I do not have the lower timing belt cover off. I was just curious if this notch in the crank pully is in alignment with the notch in the sprocket washer and subsequent mark on the engine.

I was just curious if this notch in the crank pully is in alignment with the notch in the sprocket washer and subsequent mark on the engine.

I am pretty sure it is not in alignment. I forgot you were doing this with the lower cover in place. The notch in the vibration dampner aligns with the zero on the cover.

I think your best shot is to align the mark on the vibration dampner with zero on the lover cover (and hope your dampner has not started to separate and slipped). It is difficult to find on the money TDC with piston position, but my suggestion is not foolproof either.

After replacing the belt and tensioner use a socket on the crank bolt to rotate the crank clockwise until it is showing TDC again and check the cam sproket to its mark. Good luck.

Randy

Randy you are correct in that all four points , the notch in the pully the "0" on the cover , the notch on the crank sprocket washer and engine reference are not all in ONE LINE but coincidentally it seems to be TDC ? I well double check again as the florida sun was beating down on my small head!!

Both sets of references will get you to TDC but the zero/vibration dampner marks would be the easiest to get wrong. With the lower cover on you have limited options...

Randy

http://www.threefattigers.com/Protocore/Volvo/TimingMarks.htm

This is my favorite shots of the Timing.
--
'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm

Thanks for your help..I went outside and took a look and here is waht I found. The notch on the aftermarket crankshaft pulley is lined up with the "0" on the lower timing belt cover. I took a flshlight and saw that the notch ( I had painted it white the last time I did a belt change, sure came in handy today..real dark down there! )on the sprocket washer lines up with the reference mark on the engine so it looks, thanks to you guys for the link , that I am good to go !!!

This link will get you to a page with images of achieving the correct position of the components. Good luck.

http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/B230FTimingBeltAlignment.htm

Randy