put it on tdc and try that, it shouldnt have that deflection right on TDC. If it does your gonna wanna try adjusting the tensioner if that doesnt work, your looking at an old belt..

 

Can't tell with the cams in that position. Move everything into TDC @ cylinder 1 and then turn the crank so only 3 teeth on the exhaust cam moves. Everything should be pretty tight. You won't be able to deflect that much when it's in this position.

 

ok, ill put it a tdc but its still going to be the same tension because its the same tensions anyways all the way around isnt it?

 

to me that looks normal, you have to understand that belt gets a little tighter when it warms up. I dont know if u notice that during the initial start up,the first 1-2 mins of the car the belt seems to be wobbling in the exhaust side and as it warms up, they tend to go really straight and when you turn off the car, they are really tight...too tight not not really good at al, it will definitely messed up your tensioner...

 

That is too loose and unless your belt is pretty new then I generally discourage retensioning them.

I set mine up pretty tight. TDC may change your results but it shouldn't by much, once the tensioner is locked down deflection is where it is.

 

yeah mine is really loose at TDC. i think im going to buy a new one. could this have any effect on valve timing? i mean since the belt is loose the cams are not spinning in sync causing the valves to not open and close at the right time?

 

Crank the engine over a 1/4 turn and check the slack again. The Front and top should be tight and if there slack in the rear, loosen the tensioner so that it will take the slack out and tighten tensioner back up.

 

As a margin of reference, after 70K the t belt on my civic was so stretched that I couldn't get up my own driveway without a running start. New belt, no traction until the top of second. Like a new car. I hadn't even thought that it might have gone out that much since I hadn't seen one do it yet. Mine was really stretched out though, my new build will have a reinforced belt.

 

yeah so a new tight belt is going to help alot then hey??

 

Check my buddy's belt tension all around after we changed his timing belt, never was it that loose. I suggest trying to retighten using the helms method.

1) tighten the tensioner bolt.
2) rotate everything 4 - 6 times to seat the belt on the pulleys.
3) back to TDC
4) loosen the tensiner bolt 180 deg or so (I usually loosen 1 turn.)
5) turn the crank so only 3 teeth move on the the cam pulley.
6) tighten the tensioner bolt.

So be nice and tight.