Top dead center on the No. 1 cylinder on a 1996 Lexus ES 300 is a necessary component to installing the valve timing belt. The ignition timing order is easy to remember: 1-2-3-4-5-6, with the odd number cylinders on the firewall side and the even number cylinders on the radiator side. The No. 1 cylinder is the first one on the passenger side.
Instructions
- 1
Disconnect the electrical connectors on the distributor. Pull the spark plug wire off the No. 1 cylinder spark plug. Remove the spark plug using the spark plug socket and ratchet. Thread the compression gauge hose into the spark plug hole.
2Place a finger over the hole in the end of the hose. Have a helper bump the engine over in very short sequences. Have the helper keep bumping the engine over until highly compressed air is forced out of the hose. Immediately tell the helper to stop bumping the engine over. At this point the No. 1 piston is coming up on its compression stroke.
3Place a socket and ratchet on the crankshaft pulley. Locate the timing marker directly above the harmonic balancer. Look for the 0 mark on the timing cover. It will be indexed with before top center to the left or firewall side and after top center to the right. Top dead center will be the 0 in the middle. Turn the crankshaft clockwise little by little until the perpendicular groove in the harmonic balancer is aligned with the 0.
4Remove the hose from the No. 1 cylinder and install the spark plug. Tighten the plug until it becomes snug, then tighten it a quarter turn farther. Re-install the spark plug wire. Reconnect the distributor wiring harness.
