Idiot in Need of Help: Timing Belt Change Screw Up

I have done a lot of work on VW's before but nothing to crazy. I thought I could handle the timing belt change on my 2005 Aveo. Things were going fine until I tensioned the belt with out securing the water pump back down. In other words I forgot step six below... I caught it and fixed it but now the marks on the cam sprockets seem to be a notch off. Did i bend valves by hand turning it during the tensioning process? How the hell do I get them lined up again without screwing it up any worse? Any help is appreciated...

The following is taken right from the Chevy service literature:


1. Align the timing mark on the crankshaft gear to the notch on the bottom of the rear timing belt cover.


Important: Ensure that the exhaust camshaft gear dowel pin (1) is approximately in the 11 o'clock position.


2. Align the timing marks on the camshaft gears.


3. Install the timing belt.


4. Rotate the coolant pump clockwise using the J 42492-A.


5. Rotate the coolant pump clockwise until the adjust arm pointer of the timing belt automatic tensioner is aligned to the notch in the timing belt automatic tensioner bracket.


6. Tighten the coolant pump retaining bolts.


7. Rotate the crankshaft 2 full turns clockwise using the crankshaft pulley bolt.


8. Loosen the coolant pump retaining bolts.


9. Rotate the coolant pump until the adjust arm pointer of the timing belt automatic tensioner is aligned with the pointer on the timing belt automatic tensioner bracket.


10. Tighten the coolant pump retaining bolts. Tighten Tighten the coolant pump retaining bolts to 10 Nm (89 lb in).

I've only done this job once on my own Aveo and nothing went wrong on that one, so I can't give you any real life experience. But my understanding is that being off by one won't cause any damage, and that any of the 3 sprockets can be moved one notch (and maybe more) in either direction, in order to get things lined back up. So, if you're saying that one of them is off by only one notch, I don't think you have any issue. Just remove the belt, realign the cam and crank marks, reinstall the belt, and finish the rest of the steps from there.

Same as avguy, i did the timing belt job once but with mine i removed the cam sprockets which made them move out of alignment by a tooth. Luckily i had all the markings on my belt and sprockets. I reinstalled the belt with all the marks aligned and it runs fine with no issues.

Good luck!

Thanks guys. So basically just reset and put the belt back on aligning all the notches and the paint marks I made. Should I retension the belt again and do the two rotations or is that just a step that needs to be done once?

Once you reinstall the belt continue from Step 4 to 10 in the instructions posted above and if the marks line up after the two full rotations you've successfully did the change.

Good Luck!