I was doing a valve adjustment on my car today and decided to check the condition of the timing belt. Visually, the belt looks great, but when I touched it - it felt very loose - maybe a whole inch deflection on exhaust side. (I have not changed or checked the the timing belt before) After I went through the procedure to tighten it, it felt slightly tighter. When I would turn the engine (by hand) the belt would feel loose on one side and tight on the other, turn engine - the other side gets loose... So that did not work.
Is my tensioner busted?
Could my belt be so stretched?
What is the specified tension? On which side?
How dangerous is it driving like this? (would the belt skip teeth or just slip?)
The car has 171k. mi. on it - I will probably change the t-belt, tensioner, and water pump as soon as I can. I would like to hear your opinions.
Thanks
(d16a6)