helms says to rotate the crank so that the cam sprocket moves 3 teeth, then tighten the tensioner bolt. i did this, but the exhaust side of the belt still flaps around a bit. will rotating it by 4 or 5 teeth apply more tension?

 

tighten the tensioner bolt, rotate the crank counter clockwise several times to seat the belt. set cyl 1 to TDC, loosen tensioner, rotate counterclockwise 3 teeth on the cam sprockets, tighten tensioner.

when u rotate the crank COUNTER CLOCKWISE, that will tighten the slack on the exhaust side. if you are rotating it 3 teeth counter clockwise, and then back clockwise, you are gonna create slack on the exhaust side. just rotate it 3 teeth COUNTERclockwise, and tighten the tensioner.

 

what i meant was, would rotating the crank counterclockwise by MORE than the 3 teeth specified by helms result in more belt tension? i was thinking 4 or 5 teeth, insted of just 3

 

no, rotating 3 teeth puts proper tension on the belt. rotating past 3 teeth will just rotate the cams and crank 2 more teeth. if you want more tension, try the coat hanger method.

 

yeah i was thinking about doing that coat hanger method. where exactly do i hook the coat hanger to? is this a one man job or do i need a buddy?

 

I just hook the hanger in the hole where the spring is attached to the tensioner, I have no spring anyway. BE CAREFUL not to screw up the spring, and if you leave the timing belt covers on, its can be a pita.

I would advise against this method if you are using stock head gasket and have not had the head milled, etc. let the tensioner do the job. if you do the tensioner correctly, it will work fine.

 

I also had a little trouble before and what I did was to follow the helms directions and then after tigtening the tensioner bolt, I hand cranked the crank pulley many times and eventually it tightened up.