recently came upon an h22a4 from a 97 lude. im gonna swap this motor into my hatch. its pretty complete cept for the timing belts and balancer shafts. how the hell does this tensioner work? theres pieces everywhere...and is it true i can just not use the balancer belt? this is the first h series ive ever even touched really. any help and im grateful

 

Take the bolt off of the bottom of the tensioner. You need to use a screwdriver to turn the piston inside the tensioner to compress it. Once you've got it compressed all the way u need this bracket (i dont know what it is called or where to get it but it comes with the autotensioner if you buy a new one) to keep it compressed untill you've installed the tensioner back on the block.

 

Once you've got your timing all lined up you just pull off this bracket and turn the crank a few times till the autotensioner proper tensions the belt

 

ivr heard its possible to use the h23 manual belt tensioner..would that work with this h22 belt?

 

do the manual tensioner swap asap. you just need the mounding hardware and the tensioner. you can still use the h22 timing belt

 

Yes it works and is much better than the autotensioner. I have a h23 to h22 tensioner conversion kit for sale if you need it. Pm me