Going crazy... PLEASE help! Timing belt install problems.

[kraiye]

have had bent valves replaced. i put the head back on and the cams back in but just cannot get the timing belt to tension correctly. the manual says put cyl1 at tdc, loosen tensioner, rotate anti-clockwise 3 teeth, tighten tensioner.

every time i loosen the tensioner and rotate the crank, the belt starts lifting off the intake cam pulley at the tight spots - ie: opening the valves. if i keep going the belt slips on the intake pulley. it does this with the tensioner bolt loose and/or tight. does it sound like the tensioner is rooted?

rotating the cams quickly feels smooth but doing it slow feels 'grippy'. i lubbed the cams with clean engine oil. should i go get some assembly lube and redo them?

WITHOUTthe belt installed its taking about 30ft/lb to rotate the exhaust cam and 40ft/pb for the intake (sunk2 cams/springs/retainers) would this be normal?

the crank spins pretty freely but takes 50ft/lb to turn it with the belt on.

PLEASE HELP! I'm pulling my hair out here!!! (or would be if i had hair ;) )

[grifty]

Which way are you rotating the crank?? Should always be anti clockwise. And I would of suggested using assembly lube as opposed to engine oil.

[na-118]

engine oil will do, no need for assembly lube

[kraiye]

i nearly ready to sell the f****n thing!!!

[MassiEk4]

Why are you rotating the crank when the tensioner is loose? Obviously the cambelt will slip off the cam gears. The cams feel "grippy" because of the valve springs, it is normal.
Put it on TDC in respect to piston #1 and slip on the cambelt tighten the tensioner, but make sure there is about 1/4 inch of deflection about the belt between the intake cam and the crank, exhaust cam and the crank and intake cam and exhaust cam. If the old belt is scavengeable, it would of developed a contour on the cam gears and crank, place it back on if you can, with white-out, mart the belt and the cam gear teeth and match it with the new belt and you are good to go.

[mocchi]

Why are you rotating the crank when the tensioner is loose?

because he reads honda service manual

[dorikin]

suppose to rotate the crank 5-6 times then loosen tensioner and turn 3 teeth

[MassiEk4]

suppose to rotate the crank 5-6 times then loosen tensioner and turn 3 teeth

Never heard of that, I was taught to do it like that and I have always done it the way I mentioned above without any problems.

[kraiye]

because he reads honda service manual
:thumbsup:
my second bible!

thanks massi. by rotating 3 teeth you put tension on the front of the belt (between exhaust cam and crank). this allows the tensioner to take up the slack on the back half of the belt when it's under load. that's when you nip up the tensioner bolt. but my belt looks like it's stretching or something. really weird.

that contour bit sounds interesting. the old belt is absolutely shot (OEM belt dead at 60,000 k's... hmm) but can you explain that to me again, i'm not quite getting it?

currently waiting on an oem belt and will thoroughly clean all the gears in the meantime. i'll see how it goes when that arrives. if it does the same thing i'm totally lost!
but it WILL WORK - I'm trying to remain optimistic here ok

[MassiEk4]

I am no expert or nothing but I have been doing it the way my dad taught me.

Notice how in the pic below there are white marks one on each cam gear and it also marks the cam belt as it sits on the cam gear.
http://www.cdxetextbook.com/images/replacecambelt1.jpg

Okay, do that to the old belt if you can, then trace those markings to the new belt as accurately as you can, then aline the marking you did on the new belt to the ones that you previously marked out on the cam gears, and you should be good to go.

[kraiye]

got the belt sorted - i think.

fired up the engine and dumped 4L of oil on the floor in about 10 seconds. WTF??!!! No idea exactly where it came from, somewhere on the back of the engine.
this is BS!!

[kraiye]

will start new thread with new issue :(