Finding top dead center

[Kyle Westermann]

Hey everyone,
I have a slight issue with my 2002 Subaru forester. I was driving down the highway at 60mph when my car lost most power, started lurching a little bit, and a couple lights came on the dashboard. I immediately pulled over and turned off the engine. Upon inspection I noticed I was missing my A/C, I thought it was odd this would cause such a problem, but I had it towed home. I replaced the A/C belt, the alternator belt(because why not, in already there), and the A/C tensioner pulley because it had appeared to seize and disintegrated causing the whole problem in the first place. Anyways after doing these things I tried to fire the car up to no avail, it tries but just won’t. I took everything apart and eventually found the missing A/C belt wedged between the timing belt and one of the pulleys as seen in the picture. So my question is, I know everything needs to be in time so I don’t destroy anything when running the engine, should I just pull out the A/C and then set it top dead center like normal or is the a way to check if I’m already screwed? Any help on what I should do would be appreciated.

Thanks,
KW

Attachments:

• 079b6cd0b04b967eb4614830e342d9c2

Topic

[Billy]

How did the AC belt get theough the timing cover?
Your chances of getting through this without getting your heads rebuilt are slim. Replace the timing belt and test compression. Be ready to pull the engine.

[Author]

Replies