donbrew

If the dot on the balance shaft sprocket is at 0600 then that white spot on the timing sprocket is the mark. Judging by the oil drip it is not at 0600.

Oldblue

That spot is on the spacer washer, the crank sprocket will have a dot in it at 5:00 o’clock the keyway will be at 12:00 o’clock




Mine if I recall was at 12:00 o’clock for #1 Piston TDC

donbrew

Now this is strange; more than one illustration in Mitchell OnDemand 5 has the keyway at 1200 when installing the chain. The mark on the balance sprocket is at 0600 with the keyway at 1200.

Oldblue

Right !

Balance shaft sprocket mark at 6:00
Timing chain sprocket mark at 5:00
Crankshaft keyway at 12:00

rlee63a4

OK. There was a thin washer covering up the crank sprocket. With the cam sprockets timing marks still lined up, I found the red link clearly half a link off the white dot.

Oldblue

So you’re lined up ready to, swap out that chain!

rlee63a4

Yes, indeed. After finally getting to this point, I'm just glad I didn't find the red link lined up with the white dot. I'll start taking it all apart, place the order, and be cleaning and prepping all the miscellaneous stuff I had to remove while waiting for the box of parts to arrive.

RJ_RS_SS_350

Yep, relief to know you really have found the problem.

rlee63a4

I didn't plan on being back so soon, but I just wanted to let you all know I found the root cause of the problem--the top bolt hole of the timing chain guide has a big crack. I imagine this could have been a disaster had I continued to drive the car for any length of time after the check engine light came on and that end of the guide had broken off completely. Who knows what the chain would have done. Whew...

BTW, I haven't looked for that missing chunk of guide, but it's probably all ground up by now anyway.

Oldblue

Mine was cracked also at 62,000 miles and the second one was intact at 150,000.