poordna

Made a decision a few weeks ago that, for better or for worse, I was going to keep my 94 Civic EX.

My commitment to this car would be put to the test about a week and a half later. Water pump shaft seal (I believe) failed. Coolant pissing out from the drivers' side of the engine, I would say mostly coming from *just* above the crank pulley Ran out and bought pump, timing belt, tensioner (and upper timing cover, P/O tore it off -_-)

A buddy and I tried to tackle installation this past Sunday. We hit a serious, serious roadblock. What to do with the tensioner.

My haynes manual says "Don't remove it!, just turn it 180*"

The FSM says simply "Turn it 180*"

I bought the tensioner because on past cars I've owned, I've always (paid somebody) and replaced the tensioner at the same time.

Where are we now? The bolt is slightly rounded. I'm quite certain that I turned it in the wrong direction. Friend and I decided to call it a day before we potentially made anything worse. (and we were quite low on daylight at that point.)

To sum up, here's what I need to know:

In which direction do I want to turn the tensioner bolt, so that I can loosen it, and install my new belt? Clockwise/counterclockwise

Do I not want to replace the tensioner for some odd reason? Or is the haynes manual just trying to save me some money/time/effort?

Thanks in advance, guys!!!

kyden

it is a right handed bolt, so turn counterclockwise to remove. at this point i would get a new bolt and replace the tensioner.

Former User

You have a new tensioner, so just replace the old one.

poordna

Yep.

The instructions we have state: "Turn the bolt 180*"

What exactly is this supposed to accomplish?

We did of course use the "lefty loosey righty tighty" rule, turned the bolt counterclockwise but there was no perceivable difference with the tensioner after turning it.

Our instructions also specifically warn not to remove the tensioner adjustment bolt completely. Given that I have already purchased the tensioner, I would like to replace it. Any tips for this?

Former User

Loosening the bolt 180-degrees releases the spring-loaded mechanism that applies the proper tension to the timing belt when it is rotated three teeth.

There may not be a perceptible change in belt tension after rotating the crankshaft three teeth on the cam pulley.

poordna

Thanks Ron!

Can someone point me in the direction of a step by step, detailed guide for replacing the tensioner, start to finish? (even a page number in the FSM [[pdf]])

I would not be opposed to leaving this rounded bolt there, I really don't care that much ... *but*, every time I've ever had a tb/wp replaced I have ALSO had the tensioner replaced and do not feel comfortable leaving the old one in. I've always heard / been told that not replacing the tensioner means that the timing belt won't be at the proper tension, will likely fray and fail.

dueyx99

the tensioner is held in with that one bolt, it's simple, remove the bolt and off comes the tensioner, standard thread, lefty loosey, to install it, just slide the new bolt through the new tensioner and hook the spring back on, i don't even use the springs sometimes, install new belt with slack on the right side of the belt, make sure left side is tight, make sure your marks are lined up, use a coat hanger to pull up on the tensioner to take the rest of the slack out, don't pull too hard, just enough to remove the slack, tighten the tensioner up, roate engine 2 or 3 times, line the marks back up, if belt is still too loose, loosen the tensioner 180 like the manual states, rotate the engine a couple more times, you will see the slack shift around, don't stop turning the engine over until you feel it come up to compression and your marks line back up, slack should be gone now, tighten the tensioner back up, and then you can recheck your marks again, done

dueyx99

make sure as you rotate engine, you turn it counter clockwise, if you turn the engine clockwise, slack shifts to the wrong side

strategy400

Make sure the surface of the block is clean where the tensioner bolts to it and put a film of oil on the sliding surface of the tensioner so it can slide freely while doing the tensioning procedure. Weird thing to me everytime is how loose the belt still seems after doing the tensioning procedure. Guess its not supposed to be TOO tight.

the 180 degrees (half a turn) bolt loosening means the tensioner can slide freely but yet remains straight/parallel with the block surface while you are doing the tensioning procedure, which involves rotating the cam 3 teeth counter clockwise to tension the belt.

Be sure to tighten the bolt to spec with a torque wrench when done. Be careful, it screws into soft aluminum. You want it tightened to spec and no more. I've heard heart breaking stories of stripped tensioner bolt/block etc. That is a tought spot to do thread repair without removing or tilting the engine.

poordna

Yeah, for sure.

We've only ever tried to loosen this bolt (and we were turning it in the correct direction) but it's *extremely* stubborn.

Good information here guys. Thanks!!

poordna

And, just like that... I have the bolt+ tensioner out. Would not budge when trying to loosen, tightened it a bit, loosened again and off it came.

Good morale booster, but yeah, I do feel dumb for having to ask all these questions..

Threads on the bolt look just fine, but I really think there was something bad going on.

Bolt head looks like hell, but is *probably*reusable. Local honda dlr didnt have it in stock. (should have ordered online on monday.)

Former User

You can probably find a replacement bolt at a Sears Hardware store.