found a dirt cheap deal on a plain jane 95 hatch (just a 1.5 auto) a week or so ago, so i bought the car for a quick flip or part out. after messing around with it for a while though, i found that it wont start because it skipped time a little bit, so i decided to throw a new one on and give it a try.

i got it in time and the new belt on properly, over the crank then cam, water pump, then tensioner. however, when i go to turn it over manually 3 times to gain tension, the slack between the cam and crank gets really loose, and starts skipping teeth on the crank. the tensioner does seem to be doing its job; it gets very tight from the crank to tensioner to water pump. i tried it about 5 times and every time it still wants to skip.

any ideas what the problem could be?

 

Turn the crank by hand ONLY in the counterclockwise direction. Also tighten the tensioner bolt prior to turning the crank 5-6 revolutions. Then tension the belt as described in the service manual.

 

I know to only go counterclockwise, but i wasnt tightening the tensioner before rotating, so ill give that a try.

any other ideas?

 

Is that the order your putting the belt on? It should be crank, tensioner, water pump, cam.

 

i believe my book says crank cam pump then tensioner... but its the master book with all cars instructions so it could be wrong. ill give it a try.