A few days ago I posted about breaking the coupling on my distributor ('96 Accord EX 2.2L V-tec) because I probably had it 180* out of sync. I found a used one, and just got it today. I want to make sure I don't make the same mistake again, so I pulled the left front wheel, and am trying to find the TDC mark on the crankshaft pulley. Everywhere I've looked for info on the net says look for a white painted mark, but I can't find any. There are a couple small notches on the lip of it, as seen on these pics. There is a cluster of three notches, about 1/8" apart, and a single notch a short distance away. It is interesting to note that while there is no white paint, there is some yellow where the belt rides, about halfway between the marks. Are one of these the TDC mark???

 

not sure if this helps any but one thing you could do is take a long extension and put it in the sparkplug hole down to the piston and then rotate the crankshaft until the extension comes all the way up to the highest point it will go. did the same thing on my 240sx back in the day and got the timing within a few teeth of the cam sprocket...just adjusted the belt a ribs over and was good to go.

 

In your pics, the TDC (0 degree) mark is the the single notch on the right of the 3-notch grouping. Many people paint this notch so it is easier to locate and see under timing light.

 

"beocop" got it nailed on the marks.

And I would do something about that lower cover. I'd guess the grommet around the tension adjusting bolt/nut is gone allowing the cover to "bulge" out and rubbing on the belt.

Get a new grommet or find an e-clip of the proper size and slip it into the notch on the bolt and hold the cover back.

 

Got it back together, running perfectly now (almost, see my new post). Thanks for the help, guys!