Hi,

I feel I am nearly done with my t-belt job...thanks to a ton of posts on this site, documents folks sent me, Haynes, Chiltions, Honda, and so on. Here is where I am:

Done: water pump, 3 seals, seal retainer, all shafts correctly positioned at TDC, rear balance shaft is locked, both tensioners and belts installed, springs are on tensioners.

Now, it seems someone wanted me to tension the timing belt before installing the balance belt; I didn't do that. Also, I never needed to use the "service bolt" to lock the timing tensioner before installing the balance bolt.

This is what I did: all shafts were TDC (rotor pointing at #1, all rocker arms on #1 were loose), I installed the tensioners w/o springs and with the adjusting nut on loose (I did get the pivot pin in correctly). And, I just slipped the timing belt on in what seemed like the only tooth/valley arrangement which was possible. Then I put on the balance belt sproket on the crank shaft and installed the balance belt by just shoving it on, once again in the only way seemingly possible.

What I am thinking is the next step: make adjustment nut loose, install crank pulley, pull the drill bit out of the balance shaft lock hole, rotate engine counter-clockwise 3 cam teeth, torque adjustment nut. Then, spin motor with wrench a couple times around and back to TDC, check all TDC shaft marks,

It just feels like I have missed something. Mostly I am worried that I didn't need the service bolt and I didn't tension the timing belt before installing the balance belt.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Roy

 

One other thing. There is quite a bit of slop in the timing belt in the span which goes directly from the cam sprocket to the crankshaft (not on the water-pump-side).

There is about "1/2-tooth" worth of slop. I can pull up on the belt toward the cam sprocket and get about 1/2-way towards advancing a tooth.

I recall some slop on this side of the belt before I took off the old belts...but, this amount seems like rather a lot.

Roy

 

I tensioned the belt like you described. Once it is tensioned, spin the engine a few times and see if everything lines back up. That is more important than when you tension the belt.

 

The rule of thrumb I was taught is being able to turn the belt 90 degrees.

 

Thanks PAhonda...it seems like it is time for me to take the plunge, pull out the drill bit locking the rear shaft, and adjust the final tension. Chris, your post remined me to search for posts mentioning that 90 degree standard. Thanks.

There are several points in this job which create a lot of fear. Pulling out the tensioners, starting to remove each seal, and unlocking that rear shaft. I am sure another one will be the first time I turn the key.

Thanks,

Roy

 

I've heard the same rule-of-thumb. You should be able to twist the belt about 90-degrees in the middle of the long span on the exhaust side of the engine. It's not supposed to be TIGHT like an alternator belt.

The locking bolt is probably more useful if you want to mess with the balance-shaft belt and leave the timing belt alone. (Not sure why you'd want to do THAT...)

You said you installed the tensioners without springs, then during your description I don't see where you installed those springs. The springs should be on there when you turn it 3-teeth.

The idea behind turning the engine a few teeth, is you're moving the belt-slack over to the intake side, where the tensioner will take up the slack. I usually hold just a bit of tension on the crankshaft while I tighten the tensioner bolt. That way the crank doesn't creep backwards & loosen up the tensioners.

Some people have used a coathanger to grab the tensioners (& help out the springs). Be careful you don't OVER-tension the belts.

 

Thanks Jim,

Yes, the springs are on now. I left them off until I got both belts on.

I will do the coathanger trick but will be careful to check that the final tension is not too tight.

Roy