So the venerable gray ghost (85 740, 327K B230F) decided that the timing belt needed to go. It did. A free AAA 2 mile tow to the house, and me under the hood after reviewing the very helpful info on the FAQ. Easy fix, thinks I. No problems with disassembly - on with the belt and crank pulley and it's ... time to test! Turned the key and....

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr. No catch. Rrrrrrrrrrrr. No catch again. It sounds extremely out of time, meaning starter noise, but no putt-putt of any kind... So I checked the marks and they're where they need to be. I used the 'finger in the sparkplug hole compression check' technique to determine when #1's coming up on TDC, so I don't know where I went awry.

One thing - how hard to turn is the cam supposed to be? It was VERY TIGHT, and I first thought that I had a topend lockup problem which had broken the belt. The engine turns over w/ the starter OK, though.

The 93 240 brought me to work just fine... but completion of the 740 issue is looking like it'll consume my Saturday. I'm hoping someone has some insight so I can get the ol' Swedish Meatball back on the road. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

~gray in FL
--
Gray in FL - '85 740 328K , '93 240 145K