Time to retime?

[maxsideburn]

Upon visual inspection my belt looks fine, no worn down teeth, no cracks, etc...

However I noticed, with the engine off (god I hope nobody is that dumb) that if I play with the belt on the side nearest the front bumper it's quite loose.....well not that much, but about 3 times more loose than the side of the belt nearest the cabin.

My question is could it be my tensioners? And if it is the tensioners how much harder or easier is that to take care of than changing the entire belt and retiming?

[shepherd79]

changing timing belt should be easy if you can get the plastic covers off and crank pulley off.
After that it is a piece of cake.

[maxsideburn]

So how hard would it be to just change the belt and tensioner(s) without actually re-timing the car?

Anyone have a write-up? I'm not really used to fixing stuff like that, I usually just drop in a new motor, rofl.

[MessyHonda]

So how hard would it be to just change the belt and tensioner(s) without actually re-timing the car?

Anyone have a write-up? I'm not really used to fixing stuff like that, I usually just drop in a new motor, rofl.

yeah you would have to undo the crank pulley to take off the tention from the belt and then you reverse the order

[Ichiban]

It's simple, if you have a book just follow the instructions. You might want to get ahold of an impact to undo the crank pulley bolt, though.

[truetune]

umm does anyone know if his belt is too loose or not? bet it would save him lots of time about 1-3hrs of it.

[Ichiban]

For the 2gen engine you loosen off the tensioner retaining bolt, let the spring take up the slack and tighten the bolt back up. I'd look it up in the book, and if it's that simple, to try that first.

[maxsideburn]

so I might just be able to adjust the tensioner is what you're saying?

[88Accord-DX]

If you can get a long pry bar on the tensioner, that would be the best way to tighten it up. Doubt that is possible without removing timing covers though.

As far as changing the timing belt, which would be a good investment.

Put the motor at TDC on #1 compression stroke. Pull the valve cover off, put a jack under the motor on the oil pan. Remove side motor mount, take off alternator & p.s. belt. Remove top timing cover, take off crank bolt & crank pulley. Remove bottom timing cover, loosen tensioner, take off timing belt. Reverse oder to install pretty much.
Edit- I forgot, take off the water pump pulley.

[Strugglebucket]

you can loosen the tensioner bolt without removing any of the covers. after it's loose, turn the engine counter-clockwise a bit (the manual says 3 teeth:rolleyes:) and then tighten it back up. if it's still loose then your spring is worn out and you will have to take the covers off to replace it.

[89AccordLX2dr]

The belt will have more slack on the opposite side of the tensioner simply because there's more belt length there between pulleys to lever with your hand. If the belt looks in good shape, no cracks, wear marks, you should be fine, but that doesn't mean it hasn't stretched considerably. I'd say you're good to go, but if you have the money and time and the giveashit, why not put a new belt and tensioner in.

The tensioner is auto adjusting (just a spring that applies force to the pulley), when replacing a belt the tensioner should be replaced aswell.

[maxsideburn]

i'll see if it's possible to adjust the tensioner and let you guys know what happens.

[88Accord-DX]

I never thought the spring tightened the timing belt up tight enough when loosening up the tensioner bolt. That is why I recommend a pry bar.

I replace timing belts on interferance motors at least once a week.

[maxsideburn]

i thought these were non-interference motors

[DBMaster]

Guess what? You are right, these are non-interference motors. That's not to say that you still couldn't do some damage if the belt actually broke at high RPM. The change interval is 90,000 miles, not 60,000 as some think. The tensioner does not put a lot of tension on the belt at all. It more or less just keeps it from slipping off the cam pulley and/or snapping back and forth inside the cover. If you actually did manage to pry on the tensioner and make it tighter you would end up with premature belt failure.

Maybe some of you guys are better at this than I am, but the two times I change my T-belt I had to set the timing afterwards. I just had mine done laast week. This time I paid instead of doing it myself. There was a lot of other crap that needed to be done and I just don't have that kind of free time on my hands any more.

[HondaBoy]

i was just wondering how many miles do you suppose that belt has on it, if its not the original. either way, how many miles? i changed mine out at 96000 miles and it was still in fair condition, but i felt better changing it out and resetting timing.

[DBMaster]

Unless you have a leaky oil pump (like I did), or cam or crank seal you will most likely NOT see much deterioration in the belt. Maybe if it takes you ten years to put 90,000 miles on the car you might see some small cracks on the back of the belt. The rubber does indeed weaken, though, and you can end up actually breaking teeth off the belt.

100,000 miles is not too much of a stretch, but if you are not sure of when the belt was last changed it's not a bad precaution to go ahead and do it.

And, to answer the sideburn guy's original question, even a properly tensioned belt will appear to have a good amount of slack on the left side.

[89AccordLX2dr]

My sister had an 86 Accord long long time ago (10yrs atleast).. The T-belt snapped driving home on the highway and left her standed. Me and my Father towed it to her place. There were a few bent valves, but the pistons were ok. We got a new head off a junker from wreckers and bolted it up, fixed it right up. $50. Then the clutch burnt up on her, because she has this tendancy to ride the clutch when she's sitting at a red light to hold her still, instead of using the brakes!! But that's a diff story.. mind you after telling her to stop that habit.. she managed to burn up the second clutch

[Ichiban]

Maybe some of you guys are better at this than I am, but the two times I change my T-belt I had to set the timing afterwards. I just had mine done laast week. This time I paid instead of doing it myself. There was a lot of other crap that needed to be done and I just don't have that kind of free time on my hands any more.

Get this...I did the belt on my 83 before I drove it across the country, and I thought I had the cam gear lined up properly with the index mark on the head, this was from looking at it from kneeling beside the car. When I shoved my head right in to look, the cam was actually retarded almost exactly 1 tooth. So i fixed it, and then checked the timing, assuming it would be out as the previous belt was set up like this (i hadn't move the cam gear). Turns out the timing was dead on, I guess they'd slapped on the previous belt in like 1988, replacing the original belt, and the car hadn't been timed since. It definately ran better after both the ignition and valve timing were fixed.