Eclectia

Vehicle: 1991 Civic Si, h22a swap

So i've suspected my timing was off for awhile, i finally got a chance to check it out today and the intake cam was off a tooth. I unscrewed the maintenance bolt as the service manual says. I slid the belt off the pulleys and adjusted the camshaft properly, but now i cant get the belt back on. Anyone have any nifty tricks? they use a slider tool in the service manual but i don't have one of those.

kyden

you'll have to take the tension off the belt and then retension.

Eclectia

I can't. I will probably have to pull the motor to do that, and i don't have that kind of time.
It almost goes on, i just need a way to slide it onto the pulley.

nub

If yours has the auto tensioner your going to have to make or get that tool that keeps the tensioner collapsed. You have to remove the tensioner and on the bottom there is an opening for a flat head screwdriver IRC. Turn that screw to collapse the tensioner put the tool in place to keep it collapsed while you reinstal it. Set your timing and remove tool to tension the belt.

Eclectia

Biggest problem on HT, no one reads the whole thread. If you had actually read my post you would know that I cannot get to the tensioner without pulling the motor. I loosened the service bolt which holds the tensioner in place, its not fully extended, i just need to get my belt back on the pulleys.

Green Crack

There's no way your going to get the belt on a auto tensioner H22 with out taking off the tensioner and doing what nub said, trust me i have an H22. While you're at it you might as well do the H23 manual tensioner conversion so you can save yourself a headache in the future.

Eclectia

Its not a prelude dude! You didnt read either! its a 1991 civic. The 1991 civic is much smaller than the prelude thus I CANNOT REACH THE TENSIONER WITHOUT PULLING THE MOTOR.

apexi_rsx

pull some motor mount bolts so u can raise the motor or drop the motor to get to it.

Eclectia

My apologies to green crack if you thought i meant a 1991 prelude si in my first post. If i had any money at all i would be changing the timing belt, water pump and manual tensioner swap, but i have approximately $0 at my disposal. I already have my drivers side mount out but theres no way i can move the motor enough to get to the tensioner. its right in the middle of my unibody. Does anyone know how to hold the camshaft still while you remove the gear?

Green Crack

Hahaha yeah at first i thought it was a prelude, But yeah you're gonna have to pull it if you plan to put the belt back on. But what you need for the gear is a camshaft pulley holder, looks like this:

Eclectia

No way man i can't pull the motor i don't have any money if anything goes wrong. I think i can rig some sort of pulley holder. if i can get the gear off i should be able to get the belt back on with some wizardry. Thanks for the help.

nub

I don't know if all do but some cams have a hex cast on them on the cam gear side. If yours does you could put a wrench on the cam to keep it from rotating when you pull the gear off. That's assuming you have a second set of hands to help you hold the wrench while you try to slide the belt and gear into place.

Eclectia

Ok so that didn't work at all, not even close. still need help. I removed all the bolts holding the lower timing cover on, but i don't have room to get it off. I even tried jacking the engine up and down, nothing helps. i cant see how im going to get to the tensioner. i really need to get my car back together so i can find a job.

Eclectia

I think i'm going to try to saw the lower timing cover in half, that way i can remove it and still put it back on afterwards. Anyone ever tried this before?

Eclectia

Ok, some how i have removed the lower timing cover and the tensioner. How can i keep the tensioner from extending while i install it?

Eclectia

Alright, the tensioner ios off the motor and theres still not enough slack to get the belt on. now i'm really pissed off. Took everything apart for no reason. How do you get this damn thing on the gears? i need my car, i've been bumming rides to school everyday and i need my car to find a job. Come on guys, obviously more than one person on here has changed a timing belt before.

Eclectia

Ok, this is ridiculous. Absolutely no one here has ever changed a timing belt?

Green Crack

You pulled this part off right?

Green Crack

Yeah thats the honda tool used to compress it. But i don't why your belt isn't coming on the only thing that should be making it tight is the tensioner, as soon as it is taken it off the belt should be loose. Hmm can you snap some pics?

Eclectia

Yea thats what i thought, thats the way B-series timing belts are. Any way i can tell if my belt is the right size? My internet isn't fast enough to post pics. If you feel like pmiing me your number i can text them to you.

Green Crack

Pm'd you my number. But there's numbers/letters on the belt that should tell you the size or the item number that you can trace to a size. But wasn't the belt on already before you did the adjustment?

@mouab18c1
Even though you are right about the service manual, It still doesn't give you the right to be a dick dude.

Eclectia

I understand the service manual fine, but some procedures are not working. The belt was on, but it wasn't timed right, maybe because its too short to put on correctly. I'm going to go take pics now.