today has been labled "maintenance day" for me, so iv been inspecting and testing stuff all afternoon....i found somthing strange thoguh and wonder if it was OK.

whilst inspecting the timing belt, i noticed that the little "ticks" on the cam pullies dont line up. is that normal....do they only line up once every say 4 revolutions or somthing? i cranked it a few times to see if i could get them to line up, and i couldnt after a few revolutions...but i might have cranked to fast and missed it or somthing. anyways..TAI! :)

they line up but you were looking at it when it wasnt at top dead center, cars dont just stop at TDC all the time

and dont turn it you will bend valves if you didnt already

There is no problem turning the motor with the timing belt attached and tensioned. Yes the marks only line up at TDC.

One who displays himself does not shine.
One who justifies himself has no glory.
One who boasts of his own ability has no merit.
One who parades his own success will not endure.
- Lao Tzu

Right, it will be very hard to stop the motor to be a TDC. If you manually line them up (you can use a socket wrench on the crank bolt and turn clockwise), you should be able to line up the cam marks. When the cam marks are in line, cylinders 1 and 4 are at TDC. The little arrow marks should be lined up also on the crank gear and on the block. The marks will NOT line up every crank revolution. One revolution after the marks are in line, means cylinders 1 and 4 are now at BDC. So every TWO crank revolutions, the marks line up.

cool, thanks you guys. ;)

i wasnt cranking it manually, thats what the electrical systems for. i figured the answer would be somthing simple, i just tend to freak out when i notice somthing out of the ordinary.