had my timing belt changed today and there seems to be a big lack of power. the machanic said if that was the case i should take it back tomorrow and he'll advance it 1 notch. he thinks its common for vls to be advanced a notch and mine probably was before the change.. anyone heard of anything like this before?

yep very common factory is 53 teeth but u can advance to 52

have you checked your ignition after the belt change?

yep it sounds like you are 1 tooth out.

If it was installed to the factory specifications, your mechanic wouldn't have to do the job twice. Sounds like he has installed it incorrectly.

I have done this ages ago I had 2 owners manuals and both gave me different information about timing belt location counting teeth. Unfortuantely I used the wrong information retarding the timing and had to re-do it over again - Not happy jan. I think it was either the Gregory's or Haynes brand of workshop manual, be carefull one has wrong information, I can't remember because it was so long ago.

the correct way is set the crank markint on the bottom to the slit that is cut out of the housing and the cam gear needs to be at a 90deg angle to the head (read not straight up) slightly angeled

90 degrees??? thats a hell of a "slight angle" set the notch in the crank gear so it aligns with the notch in the oil pump housing, then set the cam gear so the dowell is pointing practically straight up. Install the belt and count the number of teeth between the 2 notches. Should be 53 teeth. Aparantly some VL manuals and R31 manuals show 52 teeth, the only difference this will make is the power band will be lower in the rpm range when its set at 52 teeth so the engine will feel better to drive down low. My mate is a holden mechanic and he said that the factory manuals had the wrong specification in them early on for both cam and ignition timing and they were updated later in the series.

Hey guys according to the factory manauls ( Im pretty sure this is right) from holden the turbo is one tooth out compared to the N/A ie 53 for the turbo and 52 for N/A I have the complete set of manuals for the 6 cyl VL's, the standard one says 52 teeth but the supplementary one for the Turbo says 53 teeth. But if you talk to most mechanics they are not aware of the difference between them which would probably explain why so many people with Turbos assume they are set up one tooth out when in fact they are set to original specs.

If you have a copy of the early genuine Holden VL service manuals, it has this misprint. In the later revisions of the manual, it points out the mistake made in earlier revisions of the manual.

this should help

all new timming belt have marks on them u would have to be a total **** to stuff it

Quote: Originally Posted by pigsy qld all new timming belt have marks on them u would have to be a total **** to stuff it not all, i bought a genuine nissan last year and it didnt.

the mark on the cam gear has to be at a 90deg angle with the head if u look at the head its not exactly straight. Id like to c u try and fit the belt with the cam gear straight up and have 53 teeth coz it wont fit! u have to move the cam gear. my m8 has worked at metro holdens for 6yrs and im sure he has fitted many a timing belt!

from memory yes the cam gear has to be slightly right of straight up (if you're facing the engine). either way, just count the teeth, if you cant make it line up, turn the cam a little until it does.

so for low down power, 52 teeth is the go hey?? how do you do the dizzy timing after this?

Its 52 teeth, you need to count the first tooth as 0...

I have all the manuals for the vl here (genuine holden factory service manuals) VL Series service manual Volume two states 52 teeth starting at number 0 VL Series service manual Volume six turbo supplement states some issues of volume two says "some issues of volume two, Section 6A Engine mechanical show the incorrect number of grooves in the drive belt between the the crankshaft tooth gear and the camshaft drive gear. There should be 53 grooves for the RB30E & RB30ET engines." Count 53 grooves starting at 0 to 53 Also some of the hanes and gregorys manuals state 52 grooves, both of mine do. I have had massive problems with this in the past, doing customer and freinds belts and lost power. Finally worked it out with the holden manuals and the fact that the nissan belts are paint marked to 53 teeth as well.