Hi everyone!

New member to this forum.

So I've just did a timing belt, tensioner and water pump replacement on my Honda civic 1993 D13B2 SOCH.

I tightened the belt as instructed, 3 teeth on the camgear and then tightened the tensioner. But when I was finished and started up the car, there was a slight whining sound coming from the engine.
I suspected that the timing belt was too tight, so today I slightly loosened the timing belt and now the belt feels good, not too tight or too loose. But the whining sound is still there.

I uploaded a video on my youtube channel so you can hear it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUpa...ature=youtu.be

What do you think?

I've seen other clips on youtube where people have tensioned the timing belt too tight, but mine doesn't sound nearly as bad as they do.

But i'm still a little worried that it's still to tight.
I don't think that the sound were there before I replaced the timing belt.

(I'm from Sweden so my english is not perfect, but I hope you understand )

 

A new timing belt usually whines a bit like a supercharger belt.

Also, loosening the belt is a folly and could cause you catastrophic problems down the road. I would redo the 3 tooth process as per the factory service manual and run it. Your feel and what is proper may be two totally different things.

 

okay.
I didn't loosening it that much, it's still feels pretty tight.
but maybe I should redo it as you say just to be safe.
the sound wasn't worse before I loosened the belt so it seems like it didn't make any difference when I loosened it.

 

You say it's normal that a new timing belt whines.

But yesterday when I read about this on different forums, some said that it's normal for a new belt/tensioner and some said that it shouldn't make any noise at all.

I'm just feeling a bit confused

 

If you ordered the correct oem parts there will be no guessing games, follow the FSM to tension the belt. Done.

 

yes they are oem.

I will retighten the belt 3 teeth as instructed.

thank you both for reply!.

 

An over tightened belt will make alot of noise, to the point it sounds bad and the pulley will sound strained

A new belt will make a little more noise than the old belt, however I recall in a few other factory service manuals that after 3 heat cycles of the engine the belt will have set in properly (I believe this was in a Mitsubishi 4g63 service manual)

So the initial noise should be normal, but after driving the car for 4 to 5 driving periods rhe noise should go away.

If the noise persists after 3 to 4 heat cycles remove the valve cover and inspect the belt for abnormal wear. If the lettering on the belt is completely worn and there is noticeable groove of wear on the belt then the tension needs to be re adjusted


On the 5 or 6 d-series that I have done a water pump and timing belt I found no difficulty in setting tension by rotating the crank counter clockwise while using one finger to lift up the tensioner to pull the slack, and then tighten the tensioner. The only way to over tighten the belt would be using a screw driver and your full arm strength to lift the tensioner pulley

 

I've retightened the timing belt 3 teeth as instructed but it did make the whining sound louder.

This is how it sounds like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-xe...ature=youtu.be


Some say that you should turn the engine over a couple of times with the tensioner loosened before tightening the belt, I didn't do this because I was afraid that the timing belt might slip on the crankshaft.

It that necessary?

 

Okay, so I removed the valve cover and all that one last time (forth time btw) and this time I loosened the tensioner at least a whole turn so it got really loose.
Then I turned the engine over (CCW) 5 times to even out any uneven tension that might had been on the timing belt.
Then I cranked the engine to TDC, then 3 teeth more on the camgear, then tightened the tensioner with my torque wrench to 44nm as FSM says.

unfortunately there is still some whining noise coming from the engine but I think it's a little less then after the previous time when I just loosened the tensioner and retighten it again at the 3 tooth marker.

All I can say now is that I have done everything EXACTLY as it says in the FSM. So even if there is some noise coming from the timing belt, then it´s not because I did something wrong.

So I hope that it will just go away after some time.

 

Sorry but thats not your engine.

 

What do you mean?
I just posted that video as a comparison.

Can't I link to other youtube videos that don't belong to me on this forum?

 

I believe the OP is using this video's audio as reference to the sound he hears in his engine and there is nothing wrong with that.

I just watched your video and in my opinion your engine sounds nothing like the video of the Turbo charged V6 engine that you shared for comparison. I hear a slight whine but there is another sound that to me doesn't sound Timing belt related your engine sounds like the mechanical timing may be off and might also need a valve adjustment! your engine has a different issue and I don't think its the timing belt..

OP check the Alternator belt as that will give a very similar sound if too tight.

But confirm your mech. timing is right and check the valve lash while your at it.

 

Yes I just used that video as a reference.

But i've just retightened the timing belt as i wrote in the previous reply, so everything should be fine.
And as I said, I tightened it exactly as it says in the factory service manual.

And i've also tried to start the engine with the alternator belt off, but it didn't make any difference.
So it must be the new tensioner or the new water pump that is making this sound.

Yes, there is a slightly ticking sound from the valves but it has always been there for the last 8 years or so.

 

I think you should be fine then! I wouldn't stress too much on it my friend, I don't think anything bad will happen even if it was a bit too tight! if it was too loose I would worry about timing skipping but in your case you should be fine. Go have a beer mate!

 

When I had a factory trained honda tech do my timing belt, when he gave it back there was a whine to the timing belt. it was there for a few days of driving and settled in to not whine at all.

Almost every time I've done the timing belt to the FSM process, I've had a whine for a few days. Literally sounds like the supercharger whine of mad max.

If a factory trained service tech believes it sounds normal, then I'm pretty confident some whine is normal and will settle out in short order.

 

Yep, sounds exactly like this video. Settles down in a few days of daily driving and won't be noticeable within a week.