Hey to all. First post, but I been reading for a while. I have an issue with my timing. Now, I searched and read like 50 posts, put the pieces from each together, and got as far as I did. Now the problem.

I have a 1995 Eagle Talon ESi with 420A and 5M. It has 149xxx miles on it. I just replaced the water pump, but I did not replace the timing belt (its not really my car, I was just doing some work on it). Well, I put it back together the first time, and it ran like shit. So I searched, found that being off even 1 tooth will screw everything up. Well, I took it apart again, and saw that the cams had skipped, not good, but no harm done. Well, I did it again, and now the car runs way better, but its still kind of lumpy. its idling at about 850-900, and drives just fine. The Cams are lined up perfectly, but the crank is the issue. The arrow on the gear is not lined up with the arrow on the block. Its about 1 tooth length clockwise from it. Is this real bad? I mean, I tried over and over and over and over again, but this is the best I could get it. Could it be because of the timing belt being so old that its actually kind of stretched? Any advice on how you set your timing belt to line it up perfectly would be great! Thanks again, and I'll keep searching.

Why would the person not spend the extra on a new belt?

OK, so it is supposed to be a half tooth away? Is that clockwise or counter clockwise?

http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=PROPER%20TIMING%20MARK%20ALIGNMENT

And heres a write up by Corbin. There is a section on timing near the bottom. http://www.2gnt.com/www/corbin/rebuild.html

All the arrows should line up together.....u have to put the crankshaft arrow half a tooth off and then when you tighten the tensioner, it will line up exactly. It took 2 of us about 10 times to line it up with the engine in the car and almost the same to do it when the engine was out. Its one of those things that you have to be patient no matter what because youll want to throw the engine through the wall after 20 min of missing it by 1/2 a tooth.

Hey, thanks for all your help guys. I finally got it, and she purrs like the little Neon motor she is (haha). Next step...free up some HP with a header and an intake...