Today I put my timing belt on my b20b swap today after putting my head back on and the slack in the front of the motor near the exhaust manifold is very loose. the top of the belt between the cam gears feels good and the slack near the alternator feels good as well. it’s on all the points it needs to be but feels very loose in that one area. i have tightened the tensioner but i haven’t done the 5-6 turns. i also loosened all of the rocker arms so i can do my valve adjust after putting the belt i don’t know if that would cause an issue or not. i’m going to work on it tomorrow and see if i can see anything wrong visibly

 

Did you follow the factory instructions and roll the crank forward a couple teeth (at the cam gears) to put the required tension on the front of the belt before tightening the tensioner bolt?

If not, loosen the tensioner bolt a turn and do it properly. Find how many teeth to roll forward in the service manual.

BTW, you are correct. It IS the valve springs that apply that tension. If your belt is tight enough to turn over without skipping teeth (take plugs out), then do your valve lash adjustment FIRST. Then go back and to the timing belt tension procedure in the service manual.