.Ry

I have searched for about an hour now and cant quite seem to find my problem. I did everything I could to ensure I got the cam and crank pulleys to TDC before putting the belt on. I am 99% they are right. Well I got the car back the point where I could get it to run, engine is still supported by a jack because my mount is messed up and I am waiting for another. Well I tensioned all the belts to a point where I thought they needed to be. Well I turned the car on and I get this god awful whine from I am damn sure the timing belt. I don't know what the deal is. I set the pulleys to TDC, loosened then tightened the tensioner, installed the lower timing cover, the pulley then the crank bolt. Then loosened the tensioner again, rotated to the three teeth, then tightened the tensioner. Spun it around two or three times. Still had good tension on it. I checked the tensioner on the long side of the belt. Well once I started the car and heard the whine I shut it off. Checked the belt, the belt is no longer tight. Got the cam to TDC by aligning the marks on the pulley to the top of the cylinder head, then verified that the crank was at TDC using the white mark. If I rotate the engine a little bit it will tighten. If I move it some more it's loose again. I tried to readjust the BRAND NEW tensioner and spring but no luck. Still whines. This is not a small whine its bad. All the V-belts are fine, they are tight enough to not make that noise. Any ideas?

Cliffs: Got everything to TDC put the car back together turned it on and loud whine from I believe timing belt.

Checked belt and loose, if I move it it will tighten. Readjusted tensioner and still no dice

pdiggitydogg

I have learned in recent trials that the tension spring sucks *****.
Just get a screwdriver or something and put tension on the...tensioner yourself (at the same time as you loosen the bolt for the auto-tension)
It will ensure that the belt stays tight.

What tq spec are you using on the tensioner bolt?

Have you tried running it w/ no accessory belts?

.Ry

Ok, well update: I had a buddy come over and when I sat in the drivers seat and he looked he noticed the alternator belt was slipping. So I readjusted that and the squeal went away! I flat out did not torque the tensioner bolt as I did not have the right adapter to sneak the torque wrench down there. Which could be the result of my next problem or so I think. When the engine is running I can see as the belt travels straight down from the cam pulley to the crank pulley it wobbles a little bit. When I turn the crank over with the socket and ratchet there are some spots where the belt is looser in that same spot than others. So if I turn it a bit it may loosen up but if I keep going and check it again it will be tight. I will point out that the belt has not jumped a tooth because everything lines up TDC and it does not tick. I should notice by now if it was off a bit right? The engine sounds like it did before so should I notice a variation or only notice when driving it? I will torque the crucial bolts down when I get done, but the car is not drivable yet due to another problem. Thanks for your help, I hope you check back and let me know what you think. I have read your replies in other threads and thankfully you sound extremely knowledgeable !!

4gencivicef9

yes the spring sucks......so redo the timing belt put it all back to tdc and then do what pdiggitydogg said with the spring and you should be fine...always keep your slack to the back of the motor water pump side...

.Ry

Ok well I think I am being paranoid. As I was searching HT I found the 1/4" trick. If you can rotate the front of the car side of the belt the longest part no more than 1/4" its fine. Well when I think its loose it can only be turned that 1/4". The deflection is right about the 1/4" of an inch as well. I also found that people say that when the belt is cold it wobbles a little bit, but once it warms up it should straighten up. We shall see. She purrs like a kitten, so ill fix my other dilema and slowly drive her around and check and recheck everything. I will also recheck the tension and tensioner at some point. If you knew me you would know I am a huge worrier and my mind is gone right now so I perceive things much worse than they are.

pdiggitydogg

Your belt's moving around because its not tensioned tightly enough - result of the crappy spring.
(I was thinking about this yesterday - Id pay decent $ for a stronger spring by a 3rd party)

Retension the belt and use something to help the spring out - put a little muscle into it....but not too much, or you'll make it too tight. ALWAYS torque the tension pulley bolt before running the car. Its only 40/45ft/lbs.

The 1/4" of slack on the intake side is probably good enough. I wouldnt bust out a ruler or anything...just use your best guess

I feel that I can almost guaranteee that it will solve the problem.
The absolute last thing you want is a loose timing belt.

.Ry

Well the car is pretty much back together at this point. The 1/4" slack is on the exhaust side if that makes any difference. I was just eying it. Isn't there supposed to be some type of slack there?

pdiggitydogg

No, you dont want the slack there.
Turn the crank so the exhaust side is as tight as its going to get, loosen the tensioner bolt, apply extra force, tighten tensioner, turn crank.
I like to do that several times, while turning the crank so the slack is on the intake side, to eliminate as much slack as possible. Turn a little, add tension, turn a little more, add tension, etc.
I dont really follow the manual anymore...I do it my own way.

.Ry

Gotcha, so I dont want any slack on the exhaust side. Well I was hoping it was fine because the belt doesnt make any noise and the wobble is coming from the vibration of the engine, because its up on jacks, the engine is supported by a floor jack, and the drivers side mount is gone. So I guess I have to take it all apart for this ******* bullshit.

pdiggitydogg

timing belts suck...i know...

.Ry

Well I made a 1 minute video of the timing belt in action. The video starts about a minute after the car was started. The two black lines are 1/4" apart, which is the deflection I am getting out of the belt. After this little run I spun the motor over by hand and could not find a loose spot on the exhaust side. I dont know, it feels tight to me now. Oh and if you view my album thats what happened when I tried to take out the motor mount, which is why the car is still up in the air, and the engine is supported by a jack, and also why I am getting some good vibrations. I should also note that the belt has not budged on the cam pulley. Still seated where it was, and everything still lines up exactly where I had it when I put it back together. So it all lines up TDC.

http://s51.photobucket.com/alb...2.flv

pdiggitydogg

The exhaust side will be tight, almost always, due to the fact that the crank spins (from the pulley side) counterclockwise.
It looks like its running fine to me