Miata VVT Timing

[lxpeery]

So, I recently changed the water pump and timing belt on the old 2001 Yahter. Soon as it went back together, I got a rough idle and P0012 (over-retarded cam) CEL. In a continued effort to figure this out, I'm getting desperate enough to start posting pictures of my timing marks. Can someone take a look and confirm or deny that the gears are in line with their marks?

Thanks as always,

[ViPER1313]

Is there a 2nd mark on the left cam gear? There are 2x marks visible on the right cam gear but only 1x on the left, and the one on the left is in the middle of a cog (where the one on the right is on the tip of a tooth)

[ViPER1313]

Also, we can't tell if the timing is on unless you also show the bottom timing mark.

[lxpeery]

Is there a 2nd mark on the left cam gear? There are 2x marks visible on the right cam gear but only 1x on the left, and the one on the left is in the middle of a cog (where the one on the right is on the tip of a tooth)

The left cog has just the one mark. The cog on the crank is in line, I'll just have to ask you to trust me on that one, but I can promise you that it is. There's no room for confusion there; it's a huge notch in the cog that lines up with a very obvious mark on the case.

[ViPER1313]

Then it looks right to me

[NTIman]

Looks correct to me. From my experience usually an over-retarded code is set by a malfunctioning vvt system. I usually only see correlation codes if the cam timing is off a tooth, if i get any codes at all.

You might hook up a scan tool and run and active test on the cam gear if it is available on that model to see if the VVT gear is moving to its target position. If it is moving, the car will run super rough the further you run the system from where it normally is, and will eventually stall.

There is always a possibility that during your repair, the cam gear moved and got locked into a retarded position. Otherwise you could just have a fluke and the oil control valve is malfunctioning or a filter blocked.