timing belt 101

[Brian Devlin]

>I finally put everything together and started the engine, thanks to lister
>who answered my questions.  But I noticed that now lifters click.  I drove
>the car about 2 weeks after I bought it and it seems t me I did not hear it
>before.  Engine was not running about 3 weeks while I slowly did timing
>belt, cleaning and eliminated vacuum leaks.
>As there are always some doubts in my head first thought was: what if the
>belt is one tooth off?  It seems to me it would make  pretty noticable
>rather than not displacement of timing marks. But ... I want to ask a
>question:  what happens if timing is one tooth off? Will engine start at
>all?

I have driven a 2144cc engine with a three tooth error, the torque 
peak was shifted quite high, but it ran fine when the ignition timing 
was corrected.

>Oh... another question:  is it normal if piston's top is covered by soot?

You need to drive much, much faster. Actually a thin layer is common.

-Brian