Joe -

Yes, I think that is how I did it. The only part that looks unfamiliar is item 8 - I didn't line anything up on the left side of the cam shaft pulley, I just located the notch on the pulley (I'm pretty sure there was only one), and it lined up exactly with the mark at number 7.

Now the instructions mentioned having to crank the pulleys around several times (up to 9) in order to get them to line up. My cam shaft lined up after one rotation. The driver's side took about 3 or 4 full rotations, and the passenger side lined up after 1 or 2. When I say they "lined up", they sort of "popped" right into place.

I really think I lined it up correctly, and the diagram you just showed me is reassuring (because I felt the guide I was using was a little vague about where to line up the passenger side pulley). So why does my VX run so crappy now?? I've had a dead battery before - probably for a week or more when I was out of town - but I'm not sure if it was dead enough to reset the ECU. When I removed the battery to have it tested and recharged, it was probably disconnected for several hours. It didn't seem to have any issues readjusting then, and that was only a few months ago. The only real difference is that the whether was warmer, but this past week hasn't been too bad. This time I had the battery disconnected for about 4 days, so I know for sure that it should be reset. Should I just let it run for 15 or 20 minutes, or do I need to start driving it around? Is it most likely just going to improve with time? The vibration and back-firing have really got me worried.

Kyle