The short story I’m doing a wp replacement and decided to replace the timing belt and tensioner. When I started I couldn’t get the cam gears to line up they were just slightly off maybe a half a tooth or more.

the crank gear is in tdc so I just proceeded. When I tried to fix the mistake I tried rotating the exhaust cam gear slow one full rotation to try to get the line in the middle. I over shot it not by much so I rotated again one full rotation to try to match missed again so I decided to rotate the intake cam gear and missed. Now I’m afraid I messed up the engine. My marks are all most lined up, but seem too low and on the cross bar “ups” are not straight up and down. I’m also afraid I messed it up because i didn’t remove the spark plugs while doing this. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated thank you.

Where I started

Where I’m at.

 

you didnt mess it up unless you forced the cams to move. Find a way to hold the cams aligned, Autozone/Orielys has a cam gear holding tool that sometimes works. I have used a screwdriver wrapped in electric tape shoved between the gears to hold them still. Sometimes you have to get creative to hold the gears still. Also if the cam gear does move on ya, you dont have to rotate it a full rotation, just move it back to where you want it

 

Thank you I will keep that in mind about keeping the cam gears from moving. I’m having a problem getting the gears to tdc, I’m not sure you can just move them to align them unless you force it? I was under the impression the intake cam rotates clockwise and exhaust cam rotates counter clockwise. That’s what I did, but I feel liked I messed up the engine as I rotated the exhaust twice and just moved the intake cam downward slightly but too much. To fix my mistake I think I have to rotate both again and try to match the lines in the middle, easier said than done on my part.

 

I just did this job last summer, and I think you're probably fine as long as you didn't feel sharp resistance when turning the cams. I posted a similar question at the time because if you look at CHP garage videos, they're turning the crank several times with the belt off and there's no valve hitting. I used this little thing and it worked well Honda/Acura B16/B18 Cam Gear Lock/Timing Belt Installation Tool

Both cams rotate COUNTER-clockwise. You can spin the exhaust cam ten times and as long as you line up the cam-cam marks it will be fine.

Where people sometimes get fouled up is that it takes two rotations of the crank to equal one rotation of the cams, so you can have the case where the crank is at TDC but the cams are off (pointing down).

PS, are you sure the black marks on the teeth are actually correct? your exhaust cam doesn't look anywhere near pointing up.

PPS, if you need any help tensioning, just PM me. it's something a lot of people foul up.

 

 

I want to make sure we are on the same page and just for my sake I thought the exhaust cam was the right gear and the left was intake looking at your picture it shows the other way? When I turned the right cam gear it felt like I was rolling something to the top of a hill and then it just dropped ( if you can picture that). But I turned as slowly as I could.

I have the tool you talk about to put between the gears and I tried to use it but couldn’t get it to fit which is why I think my marks are too low because I rotated the cam gears too much.

Honestly ya I’m probably going to need more help, the civic is fairly new to me so I have no idea about the marks on the gears already, I just saw coolant coming out of the wp weeping hole and read most these jobs recommend timing belt and tensioner replacement as well. Oh and the “ups” was kinda the reason I over shot the rotation. Trying to match them straight up and the markings on the sides align is difficult.

 

What you are feeling is the cam lobe pushing on the valvespring. Totally normal. What you wouldn't want to hear or feel is a click or tap feel of a valve starting to touch the piston.

Look at the air intake, it goes to the rear of the head, so the right cam is the intake cam.

You should be turning the cam with a long wrench on the cam bolt; lets you fine tune it. As for the cam marks, you need to look for the actual impressions in the side of the cam

 

I would refer you to this video to give you some really good info
32:00 is where they tension it correctly. Notice how that during tensioning they turn it the 3 teeth at the intake (rear) cam clockwise while the tensioner bolt is loose (and spring is engaged). so much easier this way. The other option during tensioning is to turn the crank counter clockwise 3 teeth.... main idea is that the slacked side of the belt is on the right where the tensioner is.


Note, i brain farted before. When the engine is running, the cams run counter clockwise. The crank is pulling down on the left side of the timing belt.

 

As has been mentioned already, it takes 2 complete revolutions of the crank to complete the 4 stroke cycle.

To assist in determining where you're at in relation to your marks & timing it's a good idea to remove your #1 spark plug & drop a wood dowel in the hole on top of the piston to ensure you're lined up with the piston @ TDC. When the dowel reaches its highest point that's your TDC. Ditto for the other pistons anytime you want to have a visual analog to see what's happening inside the engine. A length of wood dowel dropped in on top of the piston will tell you what's what. Getting your cams lined up is another part of it, but at least you'll know at what point your TDC is 'sacred.'

 

Thank you everyone so far with this knowledge first off. I haven’t done nothing yet on the car I'm reading your comments and getting ideas for my next move.

The cam gear tool to rotate definitely is a good idea, looking into that as well as the removing of # 1 spark plug and placing a wooden dowel to get a more accurate reading on what’s going on.

I’m going to get a wooden dowel remove spark plug and see where I’m at and update with pics.

 

I realized that you probably thought the front cam was the intake cam because that's how its setup on the newer K-series engine. I'm guessing you're working on a B-series.

 

Honestly I just asked chat gpt all this is new to me, but yes sorry this a 1995 civic ex swap with a b16a2 vtec. I just always wanted a tuner car but never got into till now.

 

Nice. There's been some work done there. Same engine here, except mine is OBD2. Not sure if the B16A2 ever came in OBD1, so you might have a JDM B16?

 

Ok update: I’ve been super busy and had to put this project back on the shelf but I’m back working on it.

currently I got everything to tdc the belt is on the sides are pretty snug it’s just loose/slack on top, I have the spring connected and tensioner snug tight plus.

my instructions say to rotate crankshaft counter clockwise until the intake cam gear moves 3 teeth this will fix the slack on top then to torque the tensioner bolt to spec after do the two revolutions.

the problem I ran into trying this is the crank pulley bolt just threads out when I attempted to turn counter clockwise. I’m not sure where to go from there I need some help plus and tank you!

 

You will ALWAYS turn the crankshaft, as well as the cams, COUNTER-CLOCKWISE on the "B" series engine. if you have to move either of the cams CLOCKWISE, you should move the pistons down from TDC (rotate the crank bolt 90 degrees) before moving the cams so that you do not force any contact between valves and pistons. Since you are having difficulty with the proper tensioning phase of the timing belt replacement, I suggest you go ahead and torque the crank bolt down for this step and then loosen it so that you can re-install the lower timing cover. Do not forget to loosen the tensioner bolt 1/2 turn so that the tensioner spring can properly influence the position of the tensioner itself while you rotate the crank bolt counter clockwise and move the cams three teeth (the horizontal mark on the exhaust gear will be three teeth above the original TDC horizontal position and the mark on the intake gear will be three teeth below). Once you reach this position, torque the tensioner bolt to 40 ft/lbs.

 

I noticed a problem with my intake cam so the center marks are flush the exhaust cam outside mark is flush with the head but my intake cam is not it’s below here’s some pictures does anyone know what to do from here any help thanks! Currently I have the tensioner bolt lose spring attached, and I’m still trying to get this in time and figure out how to tighten the crank bolt without everything turning so that I can do the two revolutions “counter clockwise “

 

This is the most over-thought thread I have ever seen lol

The cams are set fine...its never 1000% perfect (unless you buy adjustable cam gears and tune valve timing, but thats beyond this). If you are off a tooth, its obvious. You are not. The outside marks don't matter. Move on from the cams.

Crank should be at TDC. Tighten the crank bolt to 130ft lbs, using a honda crank pulley holder tool https://www.autozone.com/p/oemtools-...l-57279/420315

Only spin the motor forward, as if the car was driving forward, aka counter-clockwise. With the tension pulley loosened rotate the crank until you remove as much slack as possible, and while holding tension on the crank pulley (increasing belt tension and slack removal), tighten the tensioner. They also make aftermarket springs that pull more tension. The idea is, remove as much slack from the belt as you can, there is no such thing as too tight for the most part.

Either buy yourself a Haynes manual from AutoZone or use the factory manual on my website https://yblegal.net/tech-resources/

 

I had this concern with my B18a1 and I was actually a tooth off. Watch this video around the 5:40 mark. This was the only way I was able to get the belt without fighting the cam gears.

 

Ok I’m getting closer to the finish line everything is timed, I’m now putting everything back together and ran into a problem. The damper/pully is not sitting flush after I installed the guide and the key. I’ve read to throw the crank bolt on and just torque it down, but also read not to do that, any input would help thanks.

 

Did you put the guide washers (the ones front and back of the timing belt at the crank gear) back on the correct orientation? The curved edges have to stick out away from the belt both sides like this: )|_|( So the back one faces backward and the front one faces forward. If these are not in this orientation they'll push the crank pulley away.

 

The crank pulley does NOT fit flush with the end of the crankshaft... the crank snout is recessed from the face of the crank pulley about 1/16". This way, when you torque down the bolt, there is no possibility that the crank bolt washer hits the crank snout before you hit the proper torque amount while pressing against the crank pulley face.

 

Yes the guide plates are on right I’ve checked and re checked then checked again. Here’s some pic


That first pic is currently where I’m at I’ve tired moving the key around in different positions as well. The second pic was right before, you can’t really see but I did make sure the lip part was facing me on this guide plate. Thanks for the help!

 

You're fine. Torque the bolt to spec. That's how the crank pulley is supposed to sit in there like JR said