1

 

pull up on the tensioner near the OE spring while you tighten the tensioner bolt.

don't forget to have someone turn the motor over by hand (slowly) while you pull up and tighten the bolt.

don't *** up the tensioner spring....

belt too tight = noise when you start it up.

 

To add to what Will said, dont pull up on the SPRING, but use the hole that the spring hooks into.

-or-

Get the timing belt on properly. With tensioner loose, bump Cclockwise about 3 teeth back. Then tighten tensioner and rotate crank cc. This works well, too.

GL


Modified by FAST4DR at 5:34 AM 4/1/2006

 

why would you turn the crank clockwise during a timing belt adjustment? doesnt that create slack in the belt?

IMO make rotate crank a few times to seat belt, make sure crank and cams are TDC, crank pulley lines up with mark on timing belt cover, rotate crank 3 teeth CCW, pull snugly on tensioner pulley, tighten tensioner bolt. rotate crank a few times, check slack/tension and make sure timing marks still line up. if you pull it too tight, its gonna make a "droning" noise and not sound very smooth.


Modified by RTW DC2R at 1:11 AM 4/1/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RTW DC2R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why would you turn the crank clockwise during a timing belt adjustment? doesnt that create slack in the belt?

Modified by RTW DC2R at 1:11 AM 4/1/2006</TD></TR></TABLE>

missed a "c"...edited

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RTW DC2R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why would you turn the crank clockwise during a timing belt adjustment? doesnt that create slack in the belt?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ryan is just bored and looking for some drama. We all know what Dave meant.

 

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

Ryan is just bored and looking for some drama. We all know what Dave meant. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Ill give you drama bish. I know Dave knows what hes doing. Just making sure we are all on the same page.

 

coathanger = bad
procedure outlined in the service manual = good

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mike K &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">coathanger = bad
procedure outlined in the service manual = good</TD></TR></TABLE>


.....but it is necessary with stiff aftermarket valve springs.

Here's what I posted in this old thread ( https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1226469 ):

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

-put the crank at tdc.

-put the jack hook tool thingy in cyl #1 spark plug hole (remove spark plug first).

-put coathanger hook into the tensioner eyelet that the lower part of the spring is pulling on.

-now have someone pull with all their might up on that coathanger.

-at this point, loosen the tensioner bolt by a good 2 full turns (to make sure it's not putting any friction on the position at all.

-now your buddy is still pulling up with all his might and complaining about how the coathanger is cutting into his hands.

-ignore your buddy and rotate the crank with a ratchet about 3 teeth on the timing belt. yell at your buddy to pull up with all his might. call him a sissy bitch to motivate him.

-notice all the slack disappear from the firewall side of the belt, then notice most of the slack disappear from the top side of the timing belt at the cam gears, and rotate the crank a little further (up to 90 deg on the cam gears from the original starting point), and notice all of the slack disappear from the bumper side of the timing belt.

-now keep yelling at your buddy not to let off on pulling with all his might on the coathanger. Get your 14mm 6pt socket on the tensioner bolt and crank it back down tight. Now hit it with the torque wrench to make sure it's perfect.

-Now and only now may you let your buddy stop pulling up on the coathanger.

-Rotate the crank a couple times by hand to make sure the belt is nice and tight. It's probably too tight, so you'll have to go back and loosen it a bit using the same method as above (just not yelling at your buddy quite so much) - but it sure won't be too loose.

-You'll get the hang of it after a while. The belt usually gets a little tighter when the motor gets warm, so take that into account. I run my belts with very little slack. I keep a tiny little bit, but not anything near as loose as what the helms recommends. Stiff valvesprings will mandate that you do what I have listed above or reap the consequences. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

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

Do you know how many women died in the 1960's due to coathanger abortions?

But I won't post the DIY instructions.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
.....but it is necessary with stiff aftermarket valve springs.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i don't see how valve springs have anything to do with it. 3 teeth counterclockwise is 3 teeth, no matter what. with the coathanger, you're putting excess tension on the belt and tensioner. no bueno.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mike K &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i don't see how valve springs have anything to do with it. 3 teeth counterclockwise is 3 teeth, no matter what. with the coathanger, you're putting excess tension on the belt and tensioner. no bueno.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Stiff valvesprings pull away from the tensioner using the stock method. That's why it's hard to get the slack out. They also try to push the intake cam past tdc and pull the exhaust cam before tdc, so they make some slack between the cam gears too.

I know you're a tech Mike, and I know you've been around and modded honda's for years.

But this is how I've always done it with stiff aftermarket valve springs.
I know you've heard the horror stories of how people's belts have slipped, shredded teeth off, bent valves, etc with toda cams. Well it's not the cams, it's the valve springs that make it hard to tension correctly using the helms instructions. Then people have a loose flapping belt and it eventually jumps. I have never had a problem with any of toda's cams (A, B, C,) or valveprings using this method. I also run a toda or Power Enterprise belt.

Stock, it's much easier to get the slack out - so if you've never had this problem it's likely you don't have the uber stiff valvesprings and big cams.


-hth

 

after doing it enough, you get the feel for it plus, it works great if you lost your spring lol

 

I had this exact same problem. I have Rocket Motorsports Gen 2 springs and retainers. I had to replace the Skunk2 stg 1 cams and 2 sets of rocker arms because for some reason the #1 & #4 exhaust VTEC lobes and rocker arms had been worn down extremely bad (no pad left on the rockers and both lobes worn down about 2 mm)

So I replaced them with some GSR cams that a friend gave me. After doing so I could not get the timing belt to tension at all. I would put it on and do the normal 3 teeth back procedure and it would tension, but when it came back to TCD it was loose and would start skipping teeth as I proceeded to rotate the crank.

So I tried the coat hanger trick. Unfortunatley I pulled up on the spring itself and not the tensioner. I ended up unwinding the spring and pulling it out completetly.

So yesterday I got out to try and get the timing belt on and tensioned properly.ANd needless to say, it took me about 3 times to get it right but the coat hanger trick worked with a little bit of tension on the intake cam. Nce tight belt, no whine no slack.

I was going to go get a new tensioner, bolt and spring put on at King, but now im thinking.....Do I really need a spring?


PS. I was really getting pissed because even with all the tappet screws loose, when I would pin the cams at TDC then put the belt on and remove the pins the cams would move. I was almost sure the cam timing was going to be off. I ended up leaving the pins in. Pulling up on the tensioner, then putting a little pressure on the intake cam, pulling the pins and then tightening the tensioner. That did the trick.

 

I havent been running a spring for like a year. I tried to put a new one on, but it wouldnt tension enough and I wasnt comfortable with it so I removed it.

 

So I dont really even need a spring on the tensioner. It's only used when adjusting the timing belt, it doesnt really do anything if the tensioner comes loose correct?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDM_teh_WIN!! &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So I dont really even need a spring on the tensioner. It's only used when adjusting the timing belt, it doesnt really do anything if the tensioner comes loose correct?</TD></TR></TABLE>


That is correct. But don't loosen the tensioner bolt without it - unless you're fully prepared to do the coathanger trick every time.

I usually make the hook in the tensioner spring more pronounced - that way it won't fal out of either eyelet even when it has some slack in it.

 

bump for some good info to know.