Raque - I think you are thinking about the Serpentine belt - the timing belt is not visible without some significant disassembly. That job actually isn't that hard; some have said it's a five minute job, no tools required. It took me about an hour, including replacement of the tensioner.

Joe - Thanks for getting your friend's advice. I'm not sure how turning the cams is such a huge mistake, when both of the manuals state that this is the correct procedure, and it is still my understanding that if everything lines up, they can't be rotated 180 degrees. His idea about the coils being switched is a good thought, but the only one I disconnected was the #2, so there is no possibility of a mix up there.

What about if I got a defective tensioner? That could cause these type of symptoms, couldn't it? Thinking back, when I did the job the second time after recompressing the tensioner, the belt didn't seem to be as tight as I expected. Maybe it's either too loose, or even skipping a tooth?