Plase excuse my crappy wording. I have been in the garage working on the lude since 8 this morning, and I just got home so I'm really tired. Im having a problem getting my h23/h22 timing belt tensioner to tension. From what I understand, the timing belt goes over the pulley in the picture and the process of pulling up on that pully is what tensions the belt. I am able to slide my timing belt over my cam gears, around the water pump, over the tensioner, and around the crank. However the belt can be pulled off and there is a lot of play to it so I dont see why when I pull up on the pully it is impossible to move. The slack stays just the same. But when I take the belt off, the tensioner will pivit and rotate around fine. It just seems to me that there really is not that much stress on the tensioner that it shouldnt be able to come up any more. Please tell me what I could be doing wrong here...the cars my dd and I need to get her moving again soon. Thanks guys

 

Ive used the cloth hanger method before and it seems to pull the slack out of the belt nicely. You put it through that slot on the tension and just pull up until it feels like you have the desired tension.

 

Damn man that's odd....I've never come across one where the belt would go on that easily...maybe the head has been milled a bunch or something.....

98sh sounds like he has the right idea though....give that a shot

 

yea mine was very tight just to get on.

 

Is that picture before you installed the tensioner spring? Or did you not install one? Normally, to tighten a belt, I slip it all together, then put my wrench on the intake cam and turn it clockwise, which moves the slack of the belt to the back and the tensioner will push in and tighten it up. Then, while holding the wrench on the cam, I use my free hand to tighten the tensioner bolt

 

That's a slick way to do it. I think the manual for the h23 (manual tensioner) says to rotate the crank forward a quarter turn (or something like that) to let the valve springs tension the belt and put all the slack at the tensioner.

 

im struggling with this problem... just cant figure it out. can anybody clue me in on how to adjust the timing belt tensioner?? its the h23 manual tensioner,, and my head has been milled 8 thou..