Timing belt

[Masamune27858]

first off great game and i like the new update. The new shopcarts are amazing. Thanks for listening to your players. I was unsure at first but the constant updates and mechanics are awsome and im really enjoying gravity with the carts.

my question is why after timing the engine ect. cant i put timing belt on. it just remains red. i took the parts off and put back on and it was still red. is there sometihng i dont see?

[EssBee]

There could perhaps be several of explanations for this one. (never experienced this myself so kinda running blind here). The first few things that initially spring to mind are:-
something is not in place, or something is already in place that shouldn't be and is blocking the belt, one of the bolts may perhaps be loose, or possibly the Crank or Cams aren't properly aligned with the timing marks.
They are the first things that spring to mind and the first places I'd look.

If you really get stuck I have put together a Steam Guide which covers the entire engine building process.
Cast your eye over that and it'll no doubt highlight where your problem lies.
I've build 6 or 7 engines following that guide now and never yet had a hiccup or failure, even doing 12hour races. So I'm pretty confident everything works just fine.
If you want to cut to the chase, check the Crank Timing and Cam timing sections. It's quite likely you'll find your answer in one of those.

Gimme a shout if you still get stuck and I'll see if I can help you out some more.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1631544923

edit = typo.

[Masamune27858]

ahhh nice guide. it may be the crankshaft. i aligned the 2 things on top with marks e and i and then the pistol closest to them i rotated until it was pointing uppermost in the cutout. but if theres another part to align i probably missed it. ill load up now and check. thanks the crank timing is proobably it.
i cant remember the devs name but if he sees this i want to reiterate, those shopcarts are sweet son!
also did you make that guide. thats a in depth guide right there.

[EssBee]

Heya. Yep, my initial thought was that it's something to do with the crank. They can be a bit tricky if you're not familiar with them. Sounds like you've got the cam timing right, and if you've got piston #1 at TDC too then it's got to be someting to do with crank pulley or one of the other components down there. If you pull the bits back off except for the Crank Sprocket and put them all back on as per the guide then you'll know for sure that all of those parts are all in place properly.
If it still doesn't go on after that then it looks like we're gonna have to do some digging!

Yep, I did create that guide. Initially I just threw down some notes for my own benefit, but when I saw several commets about people being stuck whle building their engines if figured, I've got all this info to hand, it'll be selfish not to share! ;D
Currently doing one for the entire chassis now too. Almost finished it. Put the two together and you can build an entire car from the ground up.
Glad you found that guide useful though, and thanks for the feedback on it. You're the first peson that's said anything about it so far, so thanks again for that.

As for the new trolleys in- game, I'm with ya on that one. They are an awesome addition. They were one of the things I had on my wishlist too. My prayers were answered!

Anyhow, if you still get stuck with that belt, gimme another shout and I'll see if I can help you out.

[EssBee]

Hold fire on following that guide to install the crank parts for a while. I've just spotted they updated the sequence for fitting the timing belt and crank pulleys and stuff. Just gonna quickly build an engine and check it out, and revise the guide if need be. I'll get back to you asap!

[EssBee]

Ok, rewritten half that guide now whilst building an engine in-game at the same time, so pretty confident everything is now in order.
Turns out you can only have the Crankshaft Sprocket and Woodruff key in position to be able to fit the Timing Belt now (and the head and cam assemblies too, obviously), as having everything else attached to the end of the crank blocks the belt from going on now.
Hopefully this will solve your problems at last.

[[BTW] Nicj]

Originally posted by Steph:

Ok, rewritten half that guide now whilst building an engine in-game at the same time, so pretty confident everything is now in order.
Turns out you can only have the Crankshaft Sprocket and Woodruff key in position to be able to fit the Timing Belt now (and the head and cam assemblies too, obviously), as having everything else attached to the end of the crank blocks the belt from going on now.
Hopefully this will solve your problems at last.

Well that sucks if you are doing the tutorial as it tells you to put the other stuff on first. Also the notch on the sproc
ket, is that supposed to be an indicator of correct alignment of the crank shaft?

[EssBee]

Unfortunately, there was no tutorial at all when I initially wrote those guides. That's what prompted me to do them in the first place - a total lack of in-game guidance for anyone who didn't have any sort of experience at all.
I initially wrote down a whole load of notes on a piece of paper for my own use, but so many people started posting on the forums that they were stuck and didn't know where to turn next, so I decided to turn my notes into guides to help everyone out who was stuck.
When the tutorials finally came about they, unfortunately, followed a different sequence to what I had already put in my guides. There's already about 60 hours worth of work there so rewriting them continuously is very time consuming. I'll try and sit and completely rewrite it again to tie in with the tutorial when I get some free time, but It's not a 5 minute job.
For now, all I can say is follow the tutorial when doing the tutorial, but if you choose to follow the guide beyond that when building your engines then I know the sequence in there works.
It's your call really. The help is there if you need it.

As for the notch on the sprocket, is that the cut out on the outer edge which aligns with the arrow on the casing that you're referring to?
If so then it's unconfirmed by the dev, but from my RL experience with engines this would quite likely be used when to time your engine. It's too coincidental for it to be right at the TDC position by my reckoning.
I mentioned it in the guide 'cos it definitely helps to confirm you're at TDC when building your engine, and also 'cos I was attempting to add a few real world tips in to the guide to help people understand what happens in RL. I tried to find a bit of a balance between in-game, and educational.

If the notch you're refering to is the one for the Woodruff Key, then the idea behind that IRL is to locate and then lock your sprocket into position on your crank. Without that key in there your crank would rotate, but your sprocket would most likely just try to spin on the crank rather than rotating with it due to the resistance it would encounter from the timing belt and all of the valve springs etc trying to hold it in place.
It can be used in-game to help determine TDC as the cut out in the crank is at the 12 o'clock position, but in reality it may not always be the case. That's why I also noted the 'arrow' as that is almost certainly a RL timing mark, it's just not mentioned anywhere in the game or by the dev.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

[Masamune27858]

Vastly confusing but fun

[Turbopleb]

Somehow I still can't install the timing belt even though I've followed the guide. The work I have performed is head gasket and timing belt, and even though the cams and crank are perfectly aligned, it's still glowing red. I have both the idler pulley and tensioner installed, no crank items other than the main sprocket and key. Cams are locked in correct position. I'm really unsure how this could be since the engine is in the exact same state as when I removed the belt.

[missingdigitgames]

Post a picture of your configuration. The timing belt install rules were different in the demo than the full game.

[EssBee]

Originally posted by Turbopleb:

Somehow I still can't install the timing belt even though I've followed the guide. The work I have performed is head gasket and timing belt, and even though the cams and crank are perfectly aligned, it's still glowing red. I have both the idler pulley and tensioner installed, no crank items other than the main sprocket and key. Cams are locked in correct position. I'm really unsure how this could be since the engine is in the exact same state as when I removed the belt.

I've seen a couple of instances where people have had trouble installing cam belts and it turned out to be the water pump gasket mysteriously disappearing despite the fact that the water pump hadn't been removed. As far as I'm aware this was flagged up and rectified, but it might be worth double checking just in case.
But as has just been mentioned, a screen shot could be useful. You mentioned having both idler and tensioner pulleys in place but just want to double check... did you have the tensioner spring in position too?