1997 Toyota Corolla Timing Gear Position Question - Pre-1997 Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm

Guest the spotted zebra

Hello, I'm helping a friend put a head gasket on his wife's 1997 Toyota Corolla 1.6L automatic. We removed the cam gear and failed to notice that there were two ways that it could go on. There are two slots on the gear that the pin on the cam could go into. One slot is marked with an "A", the other one with an "F". Can anyone tell me what the difference is & how we can be sure that we have it on correctly? Thanks in advance. Zeb

Hello and welcome to the forum - not sure if you got this solved. I don't remember any A or F stamp on the camshaft gear - but I haven't really that close of a look at them. But there should be a K stamp right above the knock pin groove on the gear. Line up key right below the "K" with the camshaft knock pin and slide it on. Getting it on the other way will not hurt the engine - but makes the existing alignment marks void, since they will be referenced to something completely different.