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I'm an idiot, any suggestions?

7745 Views 14 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Snipesy
I have a 2012 Chevy Cruze 1.8L that just rolled over 100k miles, yay! So I got a great message everytime I got in it saying timing belt needed replaced, no big deal scheduled maintenances are a thing. Screw up no. 1, thinking I could replace it myself even though I don?t have a special cam locking tool, screw up no. 2 replacing it myself with no special cam locking tool. I watched some videos and thought hey I can do that, stripped it down and pulled the old timing belt off and made real sure to not let the cams or crank rotate and put the new one on, done deal right? Nope I was a couple teeth off and it was an easy adjustment to pop the belt off and set the crank back a couple of teeth so when I put the belt back on I could turn the crank to get the slack out of the belt. Now my timing marks are aligned. I cannot get my car to start, it turns over but won?t fire, I?ve checked fuses and the battery, it seems like the crank is weak, I know my cams are still aligned because I pulled the valve cover and double checked with some cam marks someone left with a marker (presumably the factory) I don?t know if the sensors are out of whack or what but my main concern right now is that I don?t think I screwed up any valves or what, I believe the issue to be timing and I?m just at a loss on how if everything was on marks, I went 180 out on my cams to make sure i wasn?t 180 from putting the new belt on and maybe one slipped and that didn?t work so I went 180 again to put it where it was originally or so I believe, I lined up top dead center by lining up my markings and everything, I?m just at a loss and feel like I?m missing something obvious, can anyone help an idiot out?
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You would want to use an apostrophe instead of a question mark. I?M becomes I'm, I?ve becomes I've, Don?t becomes Don't and so on and so forth...
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You would want to use an apostrophe instead of a question mark. I?M becomes I'm, I?ve becomes I've, Don?t becomes Don't and so on and so forth...
That's most likely comes from composing a message in Word and then pasting it here. Word has this annoying habit of "upgrading" common ASCII punctuation into it's fancier counterpart. Then, when pasted here, the forum software goes "huh?" and we see a question mark in place of the intended character.

ASCII: I'm
Word: I’m

ASCII: "Quote"
Word: “Quote”

Not that any of this helps the OP. It does seem like something is off, but I'm not sure what to do to help him get the timing back where it should be. I'm not sure if the manual has a section for "So, you didn't follow directions...."
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That's most likely comes from composing a message in Word and then pasting it here.
Thanks, I didn't know that and am seeing it quite a bit these days!
Welcome to the forum!

At least it still rolls. My friend and I got halfway through replacing his axle seal and realized we didn't have the proper tool to put the differential pinion back in. We couldn't even tow it to the dealer since the rear end was completely disassembled. Eventually we created a tool out of a magnet, a screw driver, a trim removal tool, and some heat to melt stuff together. We finally got the thing back together but that moment of realization that we couldn't fix it, and can't tow it, was a very helpless feeling.

Posting pictures definitely helps us get a better idea what what is happening, and maybe we'll see something you didn't notice. There's a lot of very knowledgeable people on this forum who are willing to help you, so providing as many details as possible helps them out.

Good luck!
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You would want to use an apostrophe instead of a question mark. I?M becomes I'm, I?ve becomes I've, Don?t becomes Don't and so on and so forth...
Modified title, left the original post "as is" to leave integrity the same.
It seems like posting from my phone causes this issue with the ? So I will try to avoid apostrophes in the future, thanks.
I will try to post some pictures tonight after work thanks
I think it's time to go back to basics. Fuel, spark, etc. It may have nothing to do with timing but with a connector that was overlooked in the process.

Check fuel pressure. See if the injectors are firing. You might want to do a compression check to see if the timing is off.

There's been times I put things together and they don't work and I can't figure out why. I end up re-tracing my steps (taking everything apart again) to find it. Of course, that's a bit harder in this case since some bolts are one-use only. So, you'd have to replace them.
Welcome Aboard!:welcome:
I have a 2012 Chevy Cruze 1.8L that just rolled over 100k miles, yay! So I got a great message everytime I got in it saying timing belt needed replaced, no big deal scheduled maintenances are a thing. Screw up no. 1, thinking I could replace it myself even though I don?t have a special cam locking tool, screw up no. 2 replacing it myself with no special cam locking tool. I watched some videos and thought hey I can do that, stripped it down and pulled the old timing belt off and made real sure to not let the cams or crank rotate and put the new one on, done deal right? Nope I was a couple teeth off and it was an easy adjustment to pop the belt off and set the crank back a couple of teeth so when I put the belt back on I could turn the crank to get the slack out of the belt. Now my timing marks are aligned. I cannot get my car to start, it turns over but won?t fire, I?ve checked fuses and the battery, it seems like the crank is weak, I know my cams are still aligned because I pulled the valve cover and double checked with some cam marks someone left with a marker (presumably the factory) I don?t know if the sensors are out of whack or what but my main concern right now is that I don?t think I screwed up any valves or what, I believe the issue to be timing and I?m just at a loss on how if everything was on marks, I went 180 out on my cams to make sure i wasn?t 180 from putting the new belt on and maybe one slipped and that didn?t work so I went 180 again to put it where it was originally or so I believe, I lined up top dead center by lining up my markings and everything, I?m just at a loss and feel like I?m missing something obvious, can anyone help an idiot out?
Hi, i know this is from 2017... but i have a cruze 2012 and i did the timing myself, i got the tools but car wont fire up... same as you, did you remember how did you fix your car?

Thanks
Hi, i know this is from 2017... but i have a cruze 2012 and i did the timing myself, i got the tools but car wont fire up... same as you, did you remember how did you fix your car?

Thanks
Welcome Aboard!(y)

OP has not been online since the day after he posted this. Start your own thread to try and get help.

Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.
Hello all it seems as though that due to the car being out of time, catastrophic damage had occurred. Thoughts?
Hello all it seems as though that due to the car being out of time, catastrophic damage had occurred. Thoughts?
A couple of teeth does not usually cause an impact... In fact many times you'd never even notice it.

I would first try pulling battery if you have not done so already. Then maybe get a scan tool and see if there is any DTC for the CPS. If there is, replace that. Don't worry about relearning it cause the engine actually has to be running for that....
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