what does it mean if your timing belt is loose? it sound like a gingeling and its kinda loose to the touch... what should i do...it for my 94 integra ls

 

First thing is first...... Rotate motor to top dead center crankshaft, check to see if cam gears line up.. if they do and all is good take the crank pulley off, then the timing belt (assuming you know to have the valve cover and timing belt covers off) and check your water pump for play or see if you notice coolant leaking.... if there is coolant leaking and play replace water pump, gasket and while your at it replace timing belt too! Whatever you do don't drive your car anymore till you at least check your timing belt for wear and if good tighten it up a bit!

Hope this helps

 

it looks loke the water pump is doing fine and its not leaking anything... im new with the timing belt part of this motor ... how do i tighten it up? and what happens if i have to drive it and a timing belt goes out?

 

What I use to tension the timing belt.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">COATHANGER METHOD:
-put the crank at tdc.

-put the jack hook tool thingy in cyl #1 spark plug hole (remove spark plug first).

-put coathanger hook into the tensioner eyelet that the lower part of the spring is pulling on.

-now have someone pull with all their might up on that coathanger.

-at this point, loosen the tensioner bolt by a good 2 full turns (to make sure it's not putting any friction on the position at all.

-now your buddy is still pulling up with all his might and complaining about how the coathanger is cutting into his hands.

-ignore your buddy and rotate the crank with a ratchet about 3 teeth on the timing belt. yell at your buddy to pull up with all his might. call him a sissy bitch to motivate him.

-notice all the slack disappear from the firewall side of the belt, then notice most of the slack disappear from the top side of the timing belt at the cam gears, and rotate the crank a little further (up to 90 deg on the cam gears from the original starting point), and notice all of the slack disappear from the bumper side of the timing belt.

-now keep yelling at your buddy not to let off on pulling with all his might on the coathanger. Get your 14mm 6pt socket on the tensioner bolt and crank it back down tight. Now hit it with the torque wrench to make sure it's perfect.

-Now and only now may you let your buddy stop pulling up on the coathanger.

-Rotate the crank a couple times by hand to make sure the belt is nice and tight. It's probably too tight, so you'll have to go back and loosen it a bit using the same method as above (just not yelling at your buddy quite so much) - but it sure won't be too loose.

-You'll get the hang of it after a while. The belt usually gets a little tighter when the motor gets warm, so take that into account. I run my belts with very little slack. I keep a tiny little bit, but not anything near as loose as what the helms recommends. Stiff valvesprings will mandate that you do what I have listed above or reap the consequences.

</TD></TR></TABLE>


IIRC, the link also explains how to use the prybar/screwdriver method as well. Its a good link and worth the read.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TegraD &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what happens if i have to drive it and a timing belt goes out?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You could get <U>very, very lucky</U> and just have the timing belt skip a few teeth and nothing else. Or you could be like the many others who have had piston to valve contact, or valve to valve contact. Basically, bye bye motor.

Ali


Modified by PrinceAli132 at 4:37 PM 5/24/2008

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrinceAli132 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What I use to tension the timing belt.

Taken from

You could get <U>very, very lucky</U> and just have the timing belt skip a few teeth and nothing else. Or you could be like the many others who have had piston to valve contact, or valve to valve contact. Basically, bye bye motor.

Ali</TD></TR></TABLE>


Dude you are working way more than you have to. Motor to TDC Losen the timing belt tensioner bolt. Rotate the motor backwards at the crank till the belt is tight. Retighten the bolt. Good to go, the way the tensioner works at taking the slack out will not mess up any timing due to rotating the crank backwards. Done. no jack no coat hanger no prybar

 

The coat hanger method to me is def not harder, to me atleast its not difficult at all and is really quick.

When i used the Helm's method in the past it never worked as well for me.

Do whatever works best for you, as long as the job gets done correctly.

Ali

 

The reason I gave those instructions is because you said that there was a noise involved.... In order to locate the colprate you must work in steps. Yes tightening the belt is easy BUT finding the problem might not be. (checking the cam gears was to eliminate the poss. of valve noise... also checking water pump would eliminate that too. when dealing with motors esp. daily drivers it's cheaper to take more time and eliminate the poss. of engine failure.

 

if timing belt goes you'll need a new head or rebuilt head who knows in this case it's unpredictable.... But both ways not good. I'd suggest get a new timing belt and learn to put your timing belt on it's not hard just remember rotate your motor by hand 3 full crank rotations and see if your timing marks still line up if so you should be cool as long as tention is good too! Have some confidance we all had to start somewhere! You have us here if you need any more q's answered!


&lt;object width="425" height="355"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DGh-3fvK61I&hl=en"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DGh-3fvK61I&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;

 

dude... you guys rock... i didnt know what to expect on how hard it would be, but it doesnt sound to difficult...ill keep you all updated... thanks again...