My 89 240 wagon ate its reman alternator last week. While I was in there, I replaced the leaky water pump and put on a timing belt. The belt was due, mileage is just over 252K. I admit that I cheated on the belt and did not align the marks. I just took the old one off, making sure nothing moved, and put the new one on.

I was sure that this was done right until the car would not start after reassembly. OK, I fouled up (thinks I) and pulled it apart again. The crank was aligned at zero on the compression stroke for #1, I aligned the marks for the cam and distributor and reinstalled the belt. After putting the lower belt housing and crank pulley back on, I tried to start the car. No joy.

Any thoughts on this situation? It acts like the intermitent damp start problem is back. Every time I think thats solved, some other malady shows up.

Does the alternator need to be spinning for the car to start? The battery is hot and all electrical is hooked up. I don't want to put the belts and fan back on just to take them off again.

It annoys me greatly that I drove the car in, worked on it, and now it doesn't run. Obviously something is wrong, but what?

Zimm