Thread: HELP - Cam Timing 300Tdi

Last week I replaced the Timing Belt on the 300Tdi. I slackened off the Cam Pulley with a view to replacing the seal behind it, but opted to leave it, as it was so dry. Unfortunately I didn't do it back up tigh enough.

After about 10km of driving the cam pulley shifted position and there was some loud knocking. It happened as I pulled into my drive, so was not driven under load.

I cleaned the timing case of the swarf from the aluminium boss of the back of the pulley that helps locate it on the cam and reassembled. I checked the push rods and they were all ok and I redid the tappets.

The Crank was set at TDC using the Pin.
The IP was set using a dial guage.
The Cam was set at a bit of a guess (the alignment marks lined up, but due to the wear there were a few degrees of play in where the pulley could sit).

The car ran smoothly and quietly, but had some trouble starting after a standstill. Also some whiteish fuel smelling smoke on start up.

I redid the tappets, they were a smidge too tight, and backed of the fuel screw 1/8 of a turn. The car ran well, powerfully, and with less smoke accelerating under load. The hard start persisted.

I had replaced the lift pump during this, as my old one might have been a bit noisey. I checked the lift pump and it did not work. I replaced with another and it worked fine.

Still having trouble starting, though it doesn't take as many cranks now.

I suspect the Cam timing might be out by a bit.

Is there a way to check this, or do I need to get a new pulley?

Am I right in thinking that this will lead to [1] hard start and [2] a little bit of hunting on idle?

Thanks in advance, Michael

No worries.