alsims86

I just recently installed a gates racing timing belt (only bc I got a great deal on it) and when I rotate the crank ccw 3 teeth it seems a bit loose on the water pump side. I left it as is and ran the engine for a few minutes and after it warmed up the belt had tightened enough to cause a slight whine. And after it sit for a few hours the slack came back. I haven't measured the deflection exactly but I feel like it's too much. It's a gsr block with a pr3 head and a .049" cometic gasket so I used the gsr belt. Is it the tensioner that's causing this or something else that I'm missing? All the timing marks are dead on and the car runs great but I'm worried about the slack at cold bc before I installed the new belt it jumped time on the intake gear and I believe my problem was present then but I was just unaware of it until I replaced the belt.

m4xwellmurd3r

What did you torque your tensioner to

alsims86

40 lb ft

blackeg

Its normal my gates belt on my tturbo car is loose when cold in order for it to have normal tension when hot

alsims86

Alright I was concerned about it jumping when cold due to lack of tension.

AaronEJ

its normal for a timing belt in gerneral.
when the timing belt gets warm it gets shorter, not by much but a bit.

but you shouldnt be able to twist the belt more then 90 degrees at the longest point
in cold condition.

m4xwellmurd3r

Never noticed my gates belt being loose when its cold, but then again, im in az and the last time I messed with the timing belt was during summer, so it could be loose now that its winter.

Always something new to learn

alsims86

Yea I have never really paid much attention either, but after mine jumped on me I am just a little scared of it now so I decided to check it about a week after I installed it just to see and it was loose on the water pump side but like the op says it will start whining after it warms up bc it gets tight.

blackeg

ill trade you arizona for new york. its supposed to be -4 here tonight. again i had to adjust the belt a tiny bit loose when cold so it has proper tension and doesnt either whine or slap around a lot when hot.

as the motor is coming up to temp i really just let it idle up and keep the load/rpm low

m4xwellmurd3r

-4? Lol thats ok, I like the idea of my nuts not literally freezing off.

Hell I dont even have ac or heat in my integra. And my blower is siezed. Maybe I should fix that for next winter for those 40°f nights.

Speaking of heat, im actually tempted to find the heater valve in a junk yard and rigging up a method to open and close it since my climate control **** busted.

Oh, also, be careful about running the belt too tight. I tore apart an engine that was ran with a tight belt and the upper main bearing on the timing side was worn out pretty bad

NAH2B

the belt doesn't get shorter as it gets warmer.

when the engine gets warm you have thermal expansion which means the block and head grow slightly along with several other parts of the engine. this is why the belt tightens up when the engine is warm then gets loose again after it cools down.

if the belt is whining its most likely a bit too tight. you want some slack in it especially on a street application.

soaringchimp

I always recommend when you set timing, install the belt, loosen the bolt on the tensioner, let it take up the slack and then tighten the tensioner bolt. Gently start to rotate the engine forward, constantly touching the belt on the water pump side to check for slack, when/if you generate slack, loosen the bolt to let it take up THAT slack and then tighten the bolt. It takes a little extra time, but after you get through one entire revolution you should have no slack at which point you can torque the bolt and be good to go. Make sure you have a fresh tensioner spring though. Old ones don't maintain their tension.

alsims86

Yea I just ordered a new spring from Honda. But it seems it still will not take up all the slack no matter how many times I try. I have to gently pry the tensioner up to take up enough slack so the belt won't jump when cold but when it warms up I get a slight whine. I tried just letting the spring do the job and the belt jumped on the third start up. I was told from the original owner of the engine the head has been milled but he didn't know how much (may not matter). So for now I'm running it with minimal slack when cold so it doesn't jump again.

Bowman

Had this issue once i had old style LMAs binding up..(toda b out lifting lma crush capable)i was eating timing belts skipping timing all kinds of weird stuff... Check cam caps for binding,tensioner seizing up? ....

Thread on my toda cam issues >>>>https://honda-tech.com/forums/all-motor-naturally-aspirated-44/valve-lma-wear-question-3154436/

Bowman

Pads https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...2#post48884352
Belt shred https://honda-tech.com/forums/all-motor-naturally-aspirated-44/damn-toda-cams-3125735/

alsims86

Tensioner is good and I don't see any signs of binding with the cam caps. I replaced my LMA with h22 about 2 months ago but didn't notice this problem until the car left me stranded bc it had jumped time. I guess i will just run it as is for now. I seem to have it tight enough when cold that it won't slip but when it warms up I know it's too tight bc it whines above 3k and has no slack at all.