Ok just a thought / question. On the 2.3 /2.5 engines has anybody ever put a timing belt on and had the marks line up like they should. I have done dozens of these over the years. Never had one that line up perfect after rotating everything through a couple of times or even running it a few secs. Always run fine when done but just kinda makes you wonder if it is really right. Mine the cam gear triangle comes out about half a tooth past the the mark on plastic behind the gear. Your thoughts on this subject will be appreciated.

 

The few that I have done did not seem to line up 'exactly'. Memory of the marks being 1/2 tooth off perk to the top when I think about it. The mark, actually just the cam, was a little skewed in one direction or the other as I remember it. I did try to get all the 'slack' in the belt on the cam/crank span so the measured, fixed length would be on the crank/dist/cam span. I started with crank at noon, dist pointing to #1, cam @ pointer and fed the belt, keeping it as un-flexed as possible, with all the 'slop' on the left, cam/crank, around the aux and up to the cam. It was close on the 1st try, so I let the spring tensioner go, clamped it, and rotated the crank. Came back off, as I remember so I did it all over again, checked, and it was on. As noted, I think the cam triangle was not exactly on the pointer, but it was not enough off to adjust out.
tom