1.5 Engine Timing

Hello, im having trouble timing my engine. Ive lined up the mark on the flywheel but no1 cylinder is on bdc and in my book its says it has to be at tdc. Anyone know whys its doing this?
Thanks?

there are usually 2 marks on the flywheel, you have a larger diamond mark which is the BTDC marker used for ignition timign and a smaller punch mark which is your TDC marker.

Okay cheers, illl have a at it tomorrow. thanks

Ive just checked and the no1 piston is on bdc, is it possible that someone could have put the flywheel on the wrong way or is that stupid?

the flywheel can go on 1 of 3 ways, but if you do this you can damage the pressure p[alte as it has locating dowels that should prevent you from doing this. if the piston is waaaay out then yes i would say fly is on wrong. otherwise the mark on the fly is the wrong one, on some the TDC marker is very hard to see!

heres a mk2 flywheel for comparison, big diamond is btdc smaller punch id tdc:

Ah okay, the flywheel must be on wrong then because when the mark is at tdc the no1 piston is done is there a easier way that I can time it without the mark? 
Thanks

you should have a TDC marker on the crank pulley, which lines up with an arrow on the timing belt cover.

worst case a long pokey implement down sparky #1 and turn it over till its at the top! just be sure you dont get the implement wedged. the piston is at the top for a few degrees, you need to divide this by 2 if you want true tdc but tbh the movement is so small you should get away without having to do this. The smallest unit of adjustment on the belt is 1 tooth after all!

Okay I'll check the mark on the timing belt cover after work now. I did try doing that last night with a long screw driver but I'll do it properly tonight haha

Ive just finished timing up the engine. I couldnt find any tdc marks, so lined up the marks for the cam and the distributor. I then got a long screw driver and put down the cylinder until i could feel the piston a just before tdc and mark on the crank pulley, then i turned the engine over until just after tdc then marked that on the crank pulley :L Finally i turned the engine until the crank was inbetween these two marks, so hopefully it is at perfectly at tdc haha. I just tried starting it and now the battery's dying 

cool thats the way the engineers do it, though they use a dial gauge rather than a screwdriver usually

Haha, ive got it stared now and it's running good