Dave (eclpsmoneypit95) and I changed the timing belt on my car today... What a pain. The mechanical tensioner sucks balls to put on the car, the reason it doesn't track right when giving it the 2 revolutions is (as we found out) the tension bends the tensioner bracket down so the belt walks off.

Turns out I'm missing the tensioner assembly for my alternator, that belt was pretty loose, I was missing 2 bolts for my rear motor mount, the remaining one was almost completely out (1/3 inch remaining, if that). My side mount is torn... Pretty much, my car is in horrible shape. Oh yeah, I leak oil out of pretty much everywhere except for my oil filter and drain plug! I'm running very lean (white deposits on the exhaust valve stems), and I'm leaking oil through the #2 valve seals).

BUT... After 12 hours, we finally got it back running. Belt stays 1/8 inch hanging over the side of the cam sprockets and just stays there. I made the 20 minute drive back without a hitch... well, it did sound like something fell off of the car, but my flashlight is dead and I can't see in the dark.

Doesn't rev up as quick, but then again, alternator is tight, new bearings and pulleys along with water pump. When we first fired it up it smoked really bad, but that was probably the PB Blaster on the manifold and the coolant that got all over. Oh yeah, for a while it sounded like the car was supercharged, but that was the timing belt cover rubbing up against something. It's all good now... no smoke, belt hasn't moved over any more, and car runs.

All in all, that belt better stay there!

i would fix that belt if i were you.

Originally posted by 96rs-t
i would fix that belt if i were you.

My timing belt also runs just ever so slightly off the edge of the cam gears, I tried several times to get the belt to line up, but it just kept wanting to tension up in that position. I've been driving for awhile now and it hasn't moved any bit. I really wouldn't be worried about an 1/8" off the gears, just monitor it and make sure it doesn't ride over anymore.


http://www.dsmregistry.com/detail.php?carid=1030

Yeah, I'm not too worried about it. My main question is "what the hell came off under my car" last night?

Making a 40 minute drive today, that should hopefully prove the reliablility (or lack of) of the car.

shit dude, i hear ya. me and saokui (sp?) did his last night. holy fuck that sucked! all i have to say..is those plastic t-belt sheilds are the devil!

Originally posted by 96eclipse2nr
shit dude, i hear ya. me and saokui (sp?) did his last night. holy fuck that sucked! all i have to say..is those plastic t-belt sheilds are the devil!

A'men.

ha thats great i did mine in about 35 min :thumbsup engine was out of the car. that might of helped :shrug

Originally posted by 97esiboosted
ha thats great i did mine in about 35 min :thumbsup engine was out of the car. that might of helped :shrug

i think i speak for everyone here when i say



thats just not funny hahaha!

35 minutes damn you're slow jk lol. I did mine out af the car as well it helps alot to have it sitting out of the car. I did the mechanical conversion from PD, and will be doing the write up on here once I have an hour to type it all up. It will track funny til you have the motor mount bolted back to the block since that snugs the upper half of the tensioner to the block. Once mine was all bolted back together and I started it, it centered nicely back onto the cam sprockets.

-Kevin

Like Ryan (95 esi person) said, when we initially put the belt on you could tell that the tension on the belt pulled the tensioner out away from the block and that it was evident when we were to put the side motor mount on that it would snug everything into alignment. We had some trouble getting those bolts for the side motor in and that kinda concerned me. All in all, the mechanical tensioner is a good product and has some quirks that you need to get used to. Ryan, let me know if you want to get in there again next weekend to try to fix it. That is, if you're willing to turn it into a two day project!

Originally posted by eclpsmoneypit95
Ryan, let me know if you want to get in there again next weekend to try to fix it. That is, if you're willing to turn it into a two day project!

Sounds good, well, snug down that last bolt or tear it down again?

The car seems to be running good, but is very sluggish when giving it gas, but then again the alternator does have full tension on it now.

Revs won't drop as fast as before, but so far no leaks with the water pump or the radiator fitting (thank god!).

If it's not going to be an all day thing, and warmer out, I'd be up for seeing what my compression is too.

I don't know, but I think all of that time out in the cold has made me sick...

Um the only thing that changes the "tracking" of the timing belt is the crankshaft sprocket, or a bracket/pulley that isn't installed correctly.

If you're using this tensioner, there's no way it can bend unless you installed it wrong or dont have all the brackets torqued correctly.


If you're using the hydraulic system and the bracket is bending, then it's broken.

Either way, if your belt is hanging off the side of the cam gears, budget for a rebuild soon.

Originally posted by thedawg
Um the only thing that changes the "tracking" of the timing belt is the crankshaft sprocket, or a bracket/pulley that isn't torqued to spec. Either way, if your belt is hanging off the side of the cam gears, budget for a rebuild soon.

I was wondering about that... we had to loosen the idler pulley to get the belt to actually go over the tensioner. If it is all pulled apart again I'd like to take a torque wrench all of that stuff.

My last timing belt tracked perfectly on the center, so I'm wondering if something isn't in full alignment. I've driven over 100 miles last night and today, belt seems to be staying there.

But as Dave said when the car was back together, something about this seems shady...

EDIT: This is an important question. Why won't the side mount fully screw in on the farthest back bolt? It meets some STRONG resistance and won't turn anymore, even though the mount isn't fully on? Should I invest in some washers?

Another question related to that mount... Would it be ok to buy SHORTER bolts? At least for that one rear bolt on that mount?

Originally posted by 95_ESi_Person
If it is all pulled apart again I'd like to take a torque wrench all of that stuff.

You didn't use a torque wrench the first time? :wary

EDIT: It's probably not screwing on because your bracket isn't in place against the block. As mentioned, two of the 4 bolts that hold that bracket in place are shared by the side motor mount.
Don't try to work around a mistake by buying new bolts or adding washers. Take it apart and redo it until everything fits perfectly. I haven't used this mechanical tensioner yet, but if the conversion required different bolts, I'm pretty sure they would come with the new tensioner or there'd be a strong warning in the instructions about it.

Yeah changing timing belt on the 420A sucks balls especially if the engine is in the car. It'll take me like an hour to get everything to line up properly. One time I broke the tensioner plunger because the plunger slipped off of the tensioner pulley and I pushed it up and tried to tighten it. OUCH 120 bux down the drain X_x

I've done it a couple times already and I still don't like it.

yeah that covers a bitch too I broke mine one time so i just don't have it on anymore. :P at least the top portion of it anyway.

Wow! I feel retarded, I was going through the papers for the tensioner and low and behold, I found the 2nd page of instructions... it was stuck to the first page so I never saw it!

That may explain why the third bolt for the motor mount won't fully go in, and why the belt is riding a little off the edges of the cam gears.

Yea the only time I did the timing was with the motor out so I can't imagine what it is like undneath the car and fighting with everything in the way. :P

But wow dood, your car just might last forever :P

Originally posted by Blizare
But wow dood, your car just might last forever :P

I can only hope...