Decided to change the timing belt on my Santa Fe as I bought it used and have no records on when the belt was changed. Currently has 85,000 miles and runs great with no oil usage. Positioned the engine @TDC on #1 and proceeded to start the job. After getting the upper and lower timing covers off I noticed that the oil pump balancer shaft mark is at the six o'clock position instead of the ten o'clock position as is shown in the repair manual. Both cam sprockets, crank sprocket and the other balancer shaft are lined up correctly. This engine was running perfect with no known problems, I was was just performing routine maintenance. The belt had been changed recently.....just my luck and whoever changed it evidently could not get the plug out to lock the oil pump shaft before changing the timing belt, nor did they replace the tensioners which are noisy when spinning by hand. Now, I am beginning to wonder about other issues. Any thoughts on whether to move that balancer shaft mark to the ten o'clock position?

 

The oil pump sprocket is positioned for optimal engine balance. Having the sprocket off is not such a big deal, as it is independent of the valve/cam timing, and won't destroy the engine. Sounds like somebody changed the timing belt on time, but didn't care too much about lining up the oil sprocket. The obvious solution is to follow the manufacturers instructions and line up the oil sprocket gear accordingly.

 

Thanks for your input on this issue. I really appreciate it. Whoever did this job previously did not get the bottom half of the timing cover lined up correctly when reinstalling and thus the water pump pulley was rubbing against it and wore a hole in the cover thats resembles a crescent moon. $104 to replace. They did not replace the rollers nor the inner timing belt as well, which I am replacing. One thing is for sure, it will be in better shape when I finish than when I started. Thanks again! I love my gas mizer!

 

Just putty up the hole in the cover with some silicone or epoxy glue, it's not mission critical or anything. The cover is just there to keep the belt clean. Sounds like whoever did the previous job was a real Nimrod.

 

If you put the belt on without moving the pulley to the ten o clock position, the engine will run very rough. The shaft the pulley is on is balanced as you know so you need to spin the pulley and make sure it "rests" at the ten position. If it doesnt want to stay lined up, keep spinning it untill it does.

As for it being off when you took the covers off? It doesnt line up on every rotation like the crank and the cam sprockets. Its not suppose to so thats normal.