Koko4

I just removed the timing belt in order to replace the belt, water pump, and cam and crank seals. Got all the seals replaced and am in the process of reinstalling the belt / new tensioner. I followed the process that I found in the FAQ, and set the cam and crank to TDC, then installed the belt in the order recommended in the FSM: Camshaft sprocket, tensioner, water pump, then camshaft. I did all of this with the tensioner loose, and then I tightened it. The spring is connected on the tensioner, but it didn't seem to "self-adjust" very much before tightening. I pushed it a bit tighter with my finger, and retightened. I turned the engine over by hand to verify that all my marks were lining up (which they were), and even cranked the engine and let it idle for about 30 seconds. It seems to idle fine, except for this slack that I've been seeing in the belt.







I tried following the tensioning procedure also in the book: loosening the tensioner, turning the crankshaft by hand so the camshaft pulley spins about three teeth, and then tightening the tensioner. No real difference. Engine still runs / sounds fine, but like I said, I'm worried about the wobble and the deflection.

The only other timing belt I've done was on a DOHC Kia Optima.. I had to line up the crankshaft, camshafts, and oil pump pulleys and I thought this SOHC would be a breeze! The tensioner is the only thing that has really got me stumped. Is this amount of deflection in the belt normal? Should I just button everything back up and roll with it?

Thanks for the advice / tips. I've been out of the car since Friday so I am ready to get her back on the road.

Edit: I know the bottom pic looks like it's hitting the motor mount bracket, but it's not. It's the same amount of deflection as in picture #2, just from a different angle. And picture #1 shows me tugging outward on the belt, go show how little it seems to stretch that way.

kcoen

Loosen tensioner bolt, and crank the engine over with your 17mm on the big pulley so the cam has moved 3 teeth from the TDC position. Tighten up tensioner and it should be good.

Koko4

That's what I did - this is the result. Turning the cam also caused the cam to move..approximately three teeth, then I tightened tensioner. No noticeable change. Am I worrying too much over this? The deflection in the pictures is what the end result has been after trying that.

Chriser0

We manually adjusted mine. We did the lossen turn and tighten thing and was way to loose. My dad (ASE Mechanic) tighned it a by his judgment and made it alot better. If you go to tight though it will whine.

Koko4

I gave the tensioner a pretty good upward push with my hand while tightening, and it didn't seem to really have a big effect. I just was unsure if Honda timing belts were supposed to run that "loose" - I say loose because it's not actually loose enough to jump teeth or anything but you can definitely see it wobbling a tad with the covers off.

kcoen

Do you have the right belt? I think the y7 uses a 104 tooth belt.

Koko4

I counted both the old and new belt - 104 teeth each! Great idea though. I ended up pushing the tensioner a little tighter by hand, tightening it, and rolling with that. It seems to work fine..hopefully it will stay that way! Thanks for the help.