somick

1999 4 cylinder Accord. 155K miles.

Whining after I did some work on the balancer shaft. Did I overtighten the belt?

I followed the FSM procedure: moved the crankshaft three teeth counterclockwise and then I PUSHED the balance shaft tensioner down with my finger. The balancer belt became tight but I thought that it was supposed to be like that.

Did I make a mistake?

Is it possible to readjust the belts without taking everything apart?

My plan is to put the crankshaft at TDC, loosen the tensioner bolt one turn, rotate the crankshaft (20-30 degrees counterclockwise) and then simply tighten the bolt back.

Will it work? Will the balancer belt tensioner spring put enough tension on the belt. The spring looks very weak.

I hope somebody will have a solution to my problem!

Regards,
Sam

smithers646

I've done the timing belt procedure a number of times on my son's 94 LX[F22B2, 129K], and the major sweat is always the timing belt tension/position. I don't think I've ever had any issue with balancing belt tension. It's so short, and only three components- it doesn't need to be killer tight, just intimate contact. If you're getting whining, it's probably the timing belt, either too loose or too tight, or maybe you have interference with the cover and one of the pulleys.
And you can't mess with one belt without impacting the other. As soon as you loosen that big tensioning bolt that sticks out through the cover, you have potentially affected the tension on BOTH belts. Both tensioners are held in place by the tension of that bolt- not by the springs. The only time those springs can act is when the tensioning bolt is loose.
TouringAccord had done a great, illustrated procedure for timing belt et al change- see it in FAQ sticky at top of topic list. I DON"T know all the differences for 99 vs 94-97 on this procedure. I will add a couple of notes, though:
(1) the Timing tensioner has a loop on the back, which goes over a nib on the block. It's behind the tensioner; you cant see it from the front. If that connection is not made, you wont get proper tension, and being at the bottom of the stack, you'll have to undo everything to fix it. That is not described in the procedure.
(2) Pay attention to CRANKSHAFT TDC vs CAMSHAFT TDC in the procedure. There's a difference.
(3) Do not hopscotch through those steps. Follow them like a computer follows code.

Hope that helps- and be sure to come back and report the outcome.

somick

Thanks for responding smith!

I actually fix it yesterday, I guess...

I drove around the block and the whining has gone. Tomorrow will be the real test when I go to work.

What I did I aligned the mark on the pulley with the notch on the cover which put a "normal" tension on the timing belt and then I unscrewed the tensioner bolt one turn. I think I heard the tensioner moved. I simply tightened the bolt back. Like I said the real test will be tomorrow and I report back with the results.

Regards,
Sam

MAD_MIKE

Yup
Yup.
Yup
Yup.
Yeah, no.
The belt is not under any pre-tension.
The tensioneers just remove the slack to keep the cam and crank in time. Do not force tension it.

holmesnmanny

You set it to tdc. Move the crank bolt ccw so the cam moves just three teeth. Loosen and immediately tighten the tensioner bolt to spec. You're done. Yes, it can be done by only removing the valve cover.

somick

The title was supposed to read: balancer belt because it was too tight and that what was making the noise. I wanted to edit the title but it did work.

The instructions in Honda FSM are a bit vague. They do not specify how tight the belt supposed to be. In other words: tight but not that tight.

So, according to my plan, I aligned the mark on the pulley with the mark on the timing belt cover and unscrewed the tensioner bolt one turn. I thought I heard the tensioner moved. I tightened the bolt back.

No more whining! I think I hear something but most likely I am just paranoid!

The best test was this morning because my wife said: "I do not hear that sound anymore..."

Thank you for replies,

Sam

holmesnmanny

It doesn't matter which belt you are trying to tension. You will be tensioning both belts correctly with the same procedure. That's what each spring is for. The balancer belt will be looser than the timing belt. That's normal. As mike said, you do not put any additional tension on the belts whatsoever.

somick

That what I thought!

But in my case it did not work. I was getting a very unpleasant thump when I moved the timing belt three teeth and left the balancer belt alone. That was the main reason I decided to push on the balancer belt tensioner. I obviously overdid it but the balancer belt, at least on my car, needs to be tensioned. It might be because of the balancer belt tensioner spring is just hanging there and does not create any tension.

I do not remember the exact words from the FSM but it does say: "tension the belt"

I am still getting a little whining when the engine gets hot but I am planning to leave with this. The worst that may happen is the balancer belt will brake but the timing belt still should be intact. At least that is my hope.

Regards,
Sam

smithers646

How old are the tensioners- have they been replaced, ever?
I think the issue with 'belt too tight' is shortened belt life. Belt tension will probably affect the tensioner bearing life too. If the tensioner bearing overheats/seizes, the belt life after that is measured in milliseconds. I wouldn't let that new noise ride for long. Just my $0.02

somick

This is an interesting thought!

I made about 60-70 miles on the whining belt. I hope that was not enough to ruin it.

The tensioner was in a very good shape. I compared it to the one I got in a timing belt replacement kit and my tensioner had very little play in comparison with the "new" one that had three times more play in it. So I opted out not to replace it.

We should see.

If it ever brakes I will report back,
Sam

holmesnmanny

are you movin the crank bolt after setting TDC so that the CAM moves three teeth ? you might be moving it and watching the crank instead.

you should just buy two new springs

somick

I am watching CAM (the top) gear
Makes sense but I am trying to pump in as little money as possible.

Sam

holmesnmanny

you can pick them up at a junkyard as well

somick

Good idea!

Sam