I'm in the process of changing out my engine seals (Crank, Cam and Lay) and also doing the timing belt. With the help of a friend, I was able to get the seals out and new ones in and the front cleaned up a bit. I was leaking a bit of oil, and the lay-shaft seal was imho, the culprit.

When we got to the timing belt, we tried to align the belt markings as best we could. As I understand it, the markings on the top two sprockets are easy to align. The bottom sprocket (for the crank) for me was a little harder to figure out (without the pully on). Is the small notch on the spacer (or washer) the indicator for TDC?

Also, when we did have it aligned, where the proper lines were aligned with the two markings on the Cam and Layshaft sprockets and the bottom one was aligned as best as we could figure, we cycled through the engine one turn and the alignment was off by approx 9 teeth. I took off the lower sprocket and the sprocket is 18 teeth, so half is 9 teeth. Is one cycle through the engine supposed to be off by 9 teeth? Is that a tension issue?

Or, more accurately, should the markings take 2 whole cycles to complete an accurate check?

Thanks in advance.