Somebody stop me before I blow up this rb20det

[foonis]

Hey guys, I'm new here and new to Nissans, I just came across a rb20det swapped s14 that I just couldn't let go and here I am now in the Nissan game. I have mostly had miatas so this will be a little different and should definitely be fun.

Here's my dillema though.

The P.O. had the engine partly broken down for lifter replacement before saying screw it and thus far I'm pretty sure I've gone around and fixed most of the things left in his wake. Since the timing cover/timing belt and cam gear were off I figured it would be a perfect time to replace the water pump, timing belt, idler and tensioner with brand new OEM parts. I did as the FSM says and lined the timing marks on the cam gears and crank gear to their reference marks and installed the belt (facing the right way) with all the factory marks on their respective gear tooth and tensioned it. Turned the engine 720 degrees clockwise, didn't hear anything interfere, the cam gears went back to their respective alignment marks and all seems gravy. FINALLY THE QUESTION: Shouldn't the motor now be at piston #1 TDC with the cam marks lined up on their marks? Because my tick marks on the harmonic balancer are closer to the left edge of the lower timing cover than the reference bump you're supposed to be able to use to time the engine... Is it possible the timing is off even though all of the marks on the sprockets and belt lined up when installed? Or is this timing belt installation position not TDC position on the motor?

Everything seems fine with the timing components I installed and it all seems to turn fine without any interference in the engine, I just can't get why the harmonic balancer marks would be so far off...

Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on this! Just want to make sure everything is how it's supposed to be before I turn the key

[breadbox]

When you spin it and hear nothing hitting, does it make compression?

[Yellow4g63]

I usually leave the balancer off when I'm setting the timing. The oil pump has a little cut out where the dot on the cank gear lines up with.

[foonis]

Yep it does make compression while spinning it by hand and yeah that's exactly what I did while setting my timing. All of my gear marks (both cam gears and crank gear) and notches on the engine match up, literally the only thing thats out about it is the harmonic balancer timing marks which I find to be a little bizarre lol.

My guess is that the balancer ticks are just wrong for whatever reason, because I decided that as all the other timing marks lined up, nothing was interfering, and i was getting compression there was no reason not to try to crank it up, and it fired up. The timing's obviously a little off so I'll need to go back with a timing light and there is still lifter noise

I think what I'll do is use some mystery oil or seafoam in the oil thats in there right now and run it for a little while to see if it quiets up at all and then do an oil change with 0W-40 Mobil 1 full synthetic. 0W-40 (from my recollection) runs thinner while cool and thicker and more stable while hot than a more common weight, which should make the hydraulic in the lifter a little happier and might stop the ticking. A little extra oil over the fill line should help a wee too since it should provide the cylinder head with just a little more lube and might fill out the hydraulics just a little better.

[foonis]

Can't say this engine was the most cared for or the least drifted, so I might honestly end up opting to swap a lower miles rb25det in there if the problems persist.

[ChassisFlex]

Can't say this engine was the most cared for or the least drifted, so I might honestly end up opting to swap a lower miles rb25det in there if the problems persist.

Its an RB20, youll get years more loyal service out of it