Timing belt align to rotor problem

[Ben Swann]

The distributor has no slot in the bottom, so could theoretically be mated to the cam gear in any tooth to tooth position.  That said, unless the distributor or camshaft had been removed, the position should be as it was from the factory.  If your cam to crank position is off, then you will need to rotate the distribuotr to compensate, and in this case it means cutting, dremeling, drilling, or chiseling out the threaded rivit and relace with a normal bolt - not a bad idea anyway.

Get your timing belt set per factory.  I won't matter much if the sprocket is off by a half tooth, but you'll need to figure if you want the cam timing advanced (better low end) or retarded(better top end).

Ben

[From: SJ <syljay at optonline.net>
Subject: Re: Timing belt align to rotor problem.
To: Denis <sparkplugvw at hotmail.com>
Cc: quattro at audifans.com
Message-ID: <000701c4eea0$4e3523e0$096efea9 at dell450>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Maybe, the distributor shaft jumped gears or something. Who the hell knows.
You got one weird puppy there.

If it was me, I would remove the distributor and check it out thoroughly.
I dont know how to check the gearing inside the head or the block. Somebody
else has to chime in on this.
I think the distrubutor end has a slot or groove that mates with the slot or
groove inside the engine. Maybe these are rounded off? The distributor end
is not fully engaging into the gear? Take some measurements and see what you
have.

If I recall correctly, to remove the distributor, I ground off the rivet on
the dist clamp with a dremel grinding disc. It wasnt hard to do.

What is the story with the fuel system?
Fuel pump pressure?
Fuel pump delivery?
Fuel pressure regulator?

I still cannot figure out the relationship between your fuel problem and
this timing problem.
Maybe you were having a slowly worsening fuel problem for a long time. And
this timing problem occured very quickly and very recently. Maybe all that
cranking caused by your fuel problem had something to do with the
distributor being 180 degrees out?

SJ]