is my dumb timing belt tensioned enough?

[johnwc723]

well heres the deal, it dosent make any noise when the engine is turning but it seems like its got to be too loose, at when going to certain it wobbles around a great deal.

when i tensioned it it was very tight on the "front side" of it (the one that you have to tension your self) however once the auto-tensioner was cranked down it wasnt very tight on that side still

after turning over the engine two times depending on where i would stop the crank gear it would either be really tight on the front side or on the back side but it didnt go so that both sides were reletively tight

could it be that maybe my tensioner or spring is a little on the broken side? (is this something that ususally happens with our cars?)

[accordlxi2.0]

you know mine's does that too it straten's out around 3,000rpms

[johnwc723]

hmm can anyone else confirm thsi being good or bad?

[riced_roach]

hard to describe but once you tighten the belt you should be able to turn the belt 90 degrees but with some effort. YOU CANNOT rely on the dinky little spring to remove the slop from the timing belt when the tensioner pulley botl is loose.. The belt shouldnt be flopping around all over the place. The belt should remain somewhat stationary without serious bouncing. I you find that your timing light has some timing scatter is commonly caused by a floppy timing belt.

[night]

should be roughly a 1/4 inch of deflection on the longest run with mild pressure. say.... about the same pressure it would take to push the horn in (on mine anyway:) ). it has to feel snug and 'taught'. like 50lbs hanging from a rope.

[accordlxi2.0]

but it's like for me, on the side where the tensonor pulley is that side is tight, but the other side is lose. and the belt is still good.

[johnwc723]

hmm there is definetly more deflection than that, maybe i will try to manually push down the tensioner more??

i dont think it is applying enough tension, i apply quite enough to the front side when i tension it but then the other side remains rather loose

then depeding on where my crank stops after i turn of the car the slack is either on the tensioner side or on the front (long) side but there is never an equal amount of tension on each sides!

[night]

its not going to be appear equal on both sides. the right side has shorter runs, so it cant deflect as much.

remember they are counterclockwise. so the belt is pulled by the crank on the left side. when putting the belt on u get it at top dead, get all the slack onto the tensioner side, then pry the tensioner til the belt is right and snug it.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

90 degrees where the heck did you hear that? If you can turn the belt 90 degrees then it will probably fall off b/c that's too loose. 45 degrees is where you want to be able to turn it to. With timing belts you don't want to crank them down as tight as you can possible tighten. You will know if it's too tight b/c it will squeel after you turn the car on. It's hard to explain how tight but 45 degrees is what you want to be able to turn the belt on its side.

[accordlxi2.0]

so as for my problem it's fine right????!!!

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Well I asked my instructor and he said doing timing belts for the first time the right way is weird. What you can do is just twist the the belt and see if it's about 45 degrees. If so its good.

[accordlxi2.0]

okay i just went out there and twisted the front it twist's but not till the point it's straight, the other side twist's a little.

[johnwc723]

yeah my belt does about 70 or 80 degrees pretty easily on the long side!!!

so you guys think that i should pry the tensioner over a little bit to tighten it up some? (or buy a new tensioner? :( )

[it's paid for]

Why don't you tighten it the way I described in the other thread? That was somebody's recommendation to me . . . I tried it and it worked great - very easy . . . really . . .

[johnwc723]

which way are you referring to again? i did put it on there and then turned the crankshaft 3 teeth and then tightened the tensioner and its still not tight enough ! so should i pry the tensioner or is it defective?? does anyone have any idea!

[Michael Cote]

Loosen belt tensioner bolt. Turn engine counter clockways three teeth with ratchet etc on crank bolt. Keep tension on ratchet and tap tensioner bolt incase it's a little sticky. Then tighten tensioner bolt again. That should do it. Goodluck, Mike

[johnwc723]

yeah thats what i did :( hmmmm, i guess i can always try again but i did exactly that!! it might be brokeN!