https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/how-replace-timing-belt-timing-balancer-belt-water-pump-f22b1-1908944/

ok, makes no sense to me.

step #20, install tightly? lol, doesnt happen that way, either WAY too much slack between crank/cam pulleys so that when you rotate counter clockwise the crank pulley slips teeth...

you install it with the slack on the tensioner side and when you loosen the tensioner there is still slack on the water pump AND the tensioner cannot be locked in place via step #28.

what the hell is going on here? I'm frustrated so I'm jumping in the shower and walking away from it for a while.

 

I always try and put slack opposite of tensioner than put timing off by three or four degrees, then turn clockwise to put slack on tensioner sign and lining up the timing marks at the same time. Then i pull the tensioner with a pick on the spring hole to take up slack, then tighten the 14mm while pulling on the tensioner. Kinda hard to explain but u just have to practice.

 

Ok that confuses me more haha. So u put the cam off on purpose a couple degrees and then pull it back to tdc and then use a pick to pull tensioner down to put the bolt in? But when u pull tensioner down...that slacks the belt ...when i have tensioner in place it is pretty much all way up..

 

ok, so I compared the new belt to the old honda belt and its like 2 teeth longer than the damn oem belt...the hell?

will return both belts and get oem belts tomorrow from honda.

for the balancer belt...what are the alignment specs for it? in the instructions it shows the left cog and how to align it but doesnt say anything for the right side cog??

 

There is a service port in the rear of the engine, you put a 6 mm bolt in the hole to lock the rear bal shaft in time while doing the job, then rmeove the bolt when you turn the engine over. good luck and i never use any belts except honda belts because of early failures ive had with gates and also the water pump. so the money i saved buying these was gone after 60k miles because of the timeing belt breaking and had to replace it, then the water pump leaked after a couple of months , so this requored another belt and pump . after three times i decided it was time to save money in some other area.
Frank Allen

 

ok, so if that pulley has moved, all I do is rotate it until the bolt I insert in the hole catches and locks it? and then its ready to have the belt tossed on?

 

That only applies to the balance shafts and not the timing belt.

After you got your timing belt done and you're trying to install your balancer belt, you line up the rear balance shaft pulley to its marks then lock it in place by putting in a long screw driver that fit just perfectly snug and not too loose in there.

 

yeah but step #28 of the instructions say to lock the timing belt tensioner in place so it doesnt move when you loosen to adjust the balancer belt. my issue...which I think is due to a longer aftermarket gates belt...is that I cant get it to lock with a cover bolt due to the tensioner being maxed out. it loosens up too much if I try to lock it in place and then the damn belt slips when I turn the engine.

as for the back pulley on the balancer belt assembly that you are referring to...I cant see any marks on the housing, just the dot on the pulley itself. where should I look for the housing mark? there's no picture in the instructions that show where the mark is.

 

The dot should be at the 5 O clock position. Once it is, look at 11 O clock on the pullley, you'll see that there's a V shape on the outter edge of the pulley, and that V mark lines up with a dimple on the oil pump housing. Once the pulley is like that, you can insert a screwdriver into the back and lock the shaft in place, so it doesn't move when you try to install the balancer belt.

 

ok, last question i swear, I hope guys haha.

how much slack should there be on the cam/crank pulley side of the belt and on the timing tensioner side of the belt?

even with the cam/crank side completely tight and all the slack in the tensioner area, when I release the tensioner and it pulls up and bottoms out to the point you cant even get a bolt to lock it in place...there's still so much slack that when I rotate the engine, it tosses the slack to the cam gear causing the crank gear to slip.

I've tried putting all the slack between the cam/crank gear and it stays in time but there's a TON of slack around the timing tensioner...and its still bottomed out. very frustrating.

I've done so many d/b/k-series engines, hell, I time 32v ford modular engines as well and never had a slackness issue like this...

for ***** and giggles, I went ahead and setup the balancer belt and it sets just fine...but the timing belt just says "screw you" to me

 

Honestly, I usually take a extension and push up the tensioner to tighten the belt up not to tight but just enough then tighten down the tensioner. I have done so many of the timing belts and now that just saves time. I know I might get flamed, but that's how I do it.

 

It'll feel somewhat decent where it won't be super tight, but enough to keep it on track.

I just let the tensioner tighten it up itself by following the tensioner adjustment procedure. That should properly tension the belt itself, and if you put pressure to tighten up the belt, it will whurr/whine like a supercharger.

 

ok, got an oem honda timing belt and it went on like butter. everything lined up nicely and was even able to lock the tensioner in place properly lol.

now I'm stuck on the balancer belt....

I lined it up like in this pic on page 15 of the instruction thread:


I cannot get the pulley to lock in this position though??

here's pics of how I have it per the pic. is this normal or should I use a different alignment method? it locks in all kinds of other random positions...

and yeah they are at weird angles trying to get a good pic..

 

nevermind, I got it figured out looking at the rear balancer faq...wow, you REALLY do need a minimum of a 6mm diameter bolt to get it to lock in place lol.

purrs like a kitten now.