Engine knocking

[Ben]

Hi all, 

I've recently changed a cambelt on the rallyes engine and after idling twice for 5~10mins it started making a knocking noise. A couple of people have suggested it could be sticking lifters, but are they likely to suddenly stick after being ok at first?

Obviously I'm a bit worried that I may have made a mistake with the belt. I've taken the cover off to check its still tight and its as I left it. My crank pulley had spun on its rubber insert so I couldn't use this to time the engine, so I lined the woodruff key up to 90deg and locked the cams normally. I'm thinking that because I did it this way I may have got the crank a tooth out? Is this a possibility or would it be running really badly?

The other thing thats slightly different is the tension of the belt between the cams. It was quite slack on the old belt and once I'd fitted the new one it was tighter and equal with the long run of the belt, which I think is correct..

I don't have a good crank pulley to check the timing with, so I'm planning to lock off the cams and remove the spark plugs, then measure how far down each piston is to check they are all the same. Will this work? And is it an accurate enough way of checking the timings correct, or will piston heights be too close to tell at a tooth out?

I'm trying to add a video of it running, but photobucket's really not playing ball.


Thanks for any advice, Ben