age_texas

I bought my car used and had no clue when the timing belt was last done. I am at 227K miles and so I figured it was time. Plus when it idles it has a little vibration going on, so I suspected that the timing might have been a tad off.

When I got the No. 1 cyl to TDC the crank and cam shaft were spot on but the oil pump and balancer shaft were both off. I went ahead and indexed everything as is (to have something to come back to, just in case) and then I positioned the oil pump and rear balancer shaft to their proper positions.

I got the new belts and tensioners on, but I really didnt want to button it all back up only to have something go wrong. So I tightened everything up but before I put the covers back on I threw on the crank pulley and started the car up. It ran fine with no vibrations.

After, I checked the tension of the belts again. It seemed to be fine but the timing belt was rubbing the balancer belt tensioner. And the timing belt was hanging over the edge of the cam shaft pulley (not seated all the way on).

Any ideas on what went wrong? Is the tension not set right?

Anyways, sorry for the long explanation. I am going to go at it again Monday, so any help would be great. Thanks!

Swap'DShuttle

The balancer or tensioner? Or both? Are both "washers" for the belt on both sides for crank pulley? Belt refuses to sit back in position on cam gear? Even if you push it on it works it way towards the edge?

age_texas

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully I am not getting my terminology confused. The timing belt that goes on first (connecting the water pump, crank, and cam) rides on the tensioner that is closest to the engine. As it ran it worked its way away from the engine and began rubbing the other tensioner (the one that has the balancer timing belt riding on it). At the top it (the timing belt) was not sitting back on the cam gear but was working its way off from the engine (hanging off maybe a 1/4").

What do you mean by: "washers" for the belt on both sides for the crank pulley?

I think tomorrow I am going to turn the engine back to TDC and make sure all my marks line back up. I will probably take off the belts to make sure nothing got damaged (it think the cam timing belt did fray a little on the edge that rubbed the balancing belt tensioner). Put the belts back on and re-tension them. Then manually turn the crank and see how the belts ride.

I am a little concerned about the tensioning though because I don't think the spring for the balancer belt is the correct one. It is really whimpy and does not provide much force at all to pre-tension the belt. The cam timing belt tensioner on the other hand had a strong spring that seems to do a good job at pre-tensioning the belt. I may end up tesnsioning them to what feels best (tight to where you can't twist the belt more than a half turn with your fingers). Any thoughts?

Swap'DShuttle

Pictures please. You are confusing the hell out of me. The tensioner closest to the engine? If I recall correctly too there is only one tensioner?

"As it ran it worked its way away from the engine and began rubbing the other tensioner (the one that has the balancer timing belt riding on it)"

^^ Incredibly confusing. There is only one timing belt and these are the components to the system.

1. Timing belt
2. Tensioner
3. Water pump
4. Crankshaft timing gear
5. Camshaft timing gear and thin metal "washers" that keep it from rubbing

Not trying to be a douche just trying to help and you're over-complicating things brah.

Also assuming this is a Sohc, what engine?

"I will probably take off the belts to make sure nothing got damaged (it think the cam timing belt did fray a little on the edge that rubbed the balancing belt tensioner). Put the belts back on and re-tension them"

^^ Again man, one timing belt, balancer and tensioner are two separate parts. Not trying to sound like a terminology ****. Just makes things harder to sort through.

age_texas

Sorry to be confusing. My car is a 1998 Honda Accord LX 2.3L I4 VTEC engine, manual transmission. There are two timing belts for this engine.



This is not the best image, but the best one I could find for now.

This thread gives the run down of a similar timing belt:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...g+belt+rubbing

djkurious

Can you snap a picture of the belt and really show us? I think this is complicated also w/o a real picture and maybe some MS paint showing the spots its rubbing.

Your car has a "timing belt" and a "balancer belt."