Timing off after head gasket replacement

I replaced the head gasket on a Gen 3 2011 level 2 Prius with 240K on the engine because of antifreeze in the number 2 cylinder. When I tried to start it after the repair it ran like there was a misfire. I have read a number of threads where the owners had similar results and it seems that most of the problems resulted from the timing set improperly. When I set the timing I followed the instructions from the Toyota factory manual
and verified all the colored links were in their proper location before I assembled the motor. Based on other stories that have read concerning head gasket replacement and setting the timing its hard to be 100% confident I did it exactly right. I should mention I pulled each spark plug and they are all firing.

Other information:

The engine does not run well enough to obtain a code from my OBD reader.

I measured the piston height after disassembly and found no evidence of a bent rod.

There is no evidence of new antifreeze leakage into any cylinder.

All the spark plugs were replaced but I did not replace the coil packs


Questions I have:

What is the best method for checking the timing before I disassemble the engine again?

What other things beside the timing being off can make the engine run like the timing is off? can any of the sensors do this?

If I reset the timing I have read that there is a fixed number of rotations you can put the engine through where the colored links on the timing chain line up with the starting point marks again that verifies the timing is set properly. In reading about this there seems to be different numbers suggested for the number of rotations. What is the correct number ?

Any other suggestions?

thanks for your help

 

I removed the valve cover and had to rotate the pulley a number of times to get the upper orange chain links to line up properly with their marks on the cam shaft sprockets then confirmed the piston was at TDC and the mark on the harmonic balancer was aligned with the
0 mark on the block. Based on this it appears the timing chain is on correctly. I guess the next step would be to recheck for a bent rod
and if ok look for a vacuum leak.

thanks

 

After rechecking everything again I found 2 roller followers had fallen off on the engine front side of cylinder 3. After doing more research I found a video on tube from Pine Hollow diagnostics where the mechanic was asked to look at a Prius that the owner replaced the head gasket and the car ran poorly after. The problem was 2 of the roller followers on cylinder #3 falling off. The mechanic loosened up the cams and put the rollers back, retorque the cam holders, and the car was fixed. I loosed up the cams, put the rollers back on, retorqued to factory specs and the rollers are still loose enough to pull out. I'm thinking they will tighten up if I run the oil pump? or maybe turn the motor over by hand?

any thoughts on this?

 

Hello and thanks for the responses
The valves in question are cylinder #4 valves not cylinder #3 as I stated previously. Sorry about that but I don't think it matters.
I measured the spring length with a micrometer of the intake valves in question and they are 4mm shorter than a fully extended intake valve. This is without the rollers in place as they are not contact the valves with the cam in its present location anyway. I assume the only conclusion I can make id the valves are stuck. Compared to each other they are about the same length which I thought was odd that they both stuck at the same time.

The question would be is it worth trying free them?. I thought I could try putting the rollers back in place and turning the motor over by hand to see if I can free them, unless someone has another suggestion?. I did try to push on them by hand but no luck. One other thing I should mention is that the machine shop that milled the head also replaced the valve seats. If they were not installed correctly would this make them stick?

thanks

 

Yes, my mistake they replaced the seals. As for as the timing I mentioned in an earlier post was correct so if the valves are bent I'm not sure how that would have happened. I did rotate the engine by hand this morning with out a problem and the springs on cylinder 4 did compress but return to the same place which is about 4mm short of where they should be. I also tried to gently pry up on the valves but no luck moving them. I was thinking about pulling the intake manifold to inspect the valves but I'm not sure there is any value to doing this?
My only option may be to pull the head again but I'm not sure if I want to do this as it's a LOT of work. We purchased a new Rav4 plugin to replace it so maybe it's time to retire the Prius. It did give us 243000 of service without any issues.