In the process of getting my head revalved I replaced the timing belt and water pump. I ran into a few things that concern me.

1. I could never get everything lined up exactly right. When my cam gears (STR) were lined up TDC perfectly the TDC crank mark was slightly to the left of the pointer (estimated around 1/8th of an inch) However repositioning the belt by even 1 tooth in either direction made it alot worse on the crank. If I lined the white crank mark up perfectly the cam gear teeth would not perfectly align. They would be off by only a half tooth, but not perfectly in line. I couldn't get it any closer so I assumed it to be correct. Any input on this?

2. After tentioning the timing belt to what I thought was tight (didn't use a torque wrench ) I put roughly 200mi on the car, checking the belt at every stop to ensure tension, it was fine. I also did so after my dyno runs. However after the trip home I noticed the belt was pretty loose . I retentioned the belt and used a torque wrench this time, but now it has me worried. Is it likely that I didn't have it tight enough? Before when I didn't use a Tq I still tightened the bolt as much as I could with my normal rachet which I thought would have been pretty darn close. The extra leverage of the TQ wrench did allow me to tightened it a little more before it clicked for the proper specs, but I wouldn't think more than a few ft/lb. Would a falty tensioner cause my belt to loose tention over time or am I just being paranoid and didn't tightened down good the first time?

 

You need to rotate the cam gears/crank so the slack is on the tensioner side, then pull on the tensioner against the belt while you tighten the tensioner bolt. 45 ft-lbs.

You should be able to twist the belt a little less than 1/4 turn at any place.

 

The tensioner does not move once you have tightened it. The problem is that you are not tensioning the belt correctly. Loosen the tensioner lock bolt, use a large 1/2" ratchet or breaker bar and a 19mm socket to turn the crank slightly in a counterclockwise direction. Hold tension on the crank and lock the tensioner bolt down. There should be very little slack anywhere in the timing belt. Personally, I use a coat hanger to put additional tension on the t-belt during the tensioning processs-on my engines. I let the tensioner spring determine belt tension on customer's engines; they tend to complain if the belt sings, which it will when good and tight.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b19coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The tensioner does not move once you have tightened it. The problem is that you are not tensioning the belt correctly. Loosen the tensioner lock bolt, use a large 1/2" ratchet or breaker bar and a 19mm socket to turn the crank slightly in a counterclockwise direction. Hold tension on the crank and lock the tensioner bolt down. There should be very little slack anywhere in the timing belt. Personally, I use a coat hanger to put additional tension on the t-belt during the tensioning processs-on my engines. I let the tensioner spring determine belt tension on customer's engines; they tend to complain if the belt sings, which it will when good and tight.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah I did that. I turned the crank counter clockwise by about 3 teeth then re-tightened. The belt stayed tight for about 200mi then got a good bit of slack in it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ActiveAero &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1. I could never get everything lined up exactly right. When my cam gears (STR) were lined up TDC perfectly the TDC crank mark was slightly to the left of the pointer (estimated around 1/8th of an inch) However repositioning the belt by even 1 tooth in either direction made it alot worse on the crank. If I lined the white crank mark up perfectly the cam gear teeth would not perfectly align. They would be off by only a half tooth, but not perfectly in line. I couldn't get it any closer so I assumed it to be correct. Any input on this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I noticed this phenomenon on my car a few months back. I started a thread like yours and got answers ranging from "the belt skipped a tooth" to "it's normal." Well, after having a mechanic friend (gold certified honda) take a look at it, he told me w/o hesitation that it's normal for the marks not to line up perfectly. Mind you, I have stock cam gears and crank pulley, so I really expected the marks to line up perfectly. They don't.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Batoutahell &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I noticed this phenomenon on my car a few months back. I started a thread like yours and got answers ranging from "the belt skipped a tooth" to "it's normal." Well, after having a mechanic friend (gold certified honda) take a look at it, he told me w/o hesitation that it's normal for the marks not to line up perfectly. Mind you, I have stock cam gears and crank pulley, so I really expected the marks to line up perfectly. They don't.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Correctamundo!

As for the tensioner, I use a coathanger.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


Correctamundo!

As for the tensioner, I use a coathanger..... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the info bat.

As for the coat hanger I'm guessing you just use it to pull up more on the tensioner? After that just replace the spring for safety correct?

 

You got it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">As for the tensioner, I use a coathanger..</TD></TR></TABLE>
sounds like a good idea..
wonder where you got it from. :D

 

Ok now I'm starting to get frustrated. A few days ago I retightened the belt (like I mentioned earlier). I backed the car out of the garage for a day while I put in a new clutch in a cousins Accord, pulled the car back in today and checked the belt. LOOSE AGAIN!!!! The strange thing is it is only loose on the front side, the back side with the tensioner still feels pretty tight. How in the heck could one side be tight and the other loose?

&lt; thinking he should just get another tensioner.

 

depends on where the motor stops... turn the crank pulley and then check it.

 

You have to make sure that ALL 3 sides are tight when you tension the belt. I use a small prybar instead of a coat hanger, to lift up on the back side of the tensioner. Tension the belt a little more on the back side and the tension on all 3 sides will be pretty good. I've noticed if you don't rotate the motor a couple times after the tensioning, you can be way off still. I usually rotate the motor about 5 revolutions and check to make sure everything is good. I don't put hardly any slack in my belt, too nervous about slipping a tooth. Plus the flapping sound is kinda annoying.