Ok guys so here's the story. Every since I rebuilt my motor like 2 yrs ago (about 35k miles ago) the belt hasnt really been center. Dont know why and it seems to have been slowly moving farther over since then. But anyways heres the video.

YouTube.com

It's like some weird ticking noise. It stops when the rpms are at 2000 or above and sometimes at idle it doesnt do it either. When the motor is off I can spin the pulley by hand that is in the front of the motor, the one you can see in the video, like there isnt enough tension in the belt. Or is that normal? And you can see on the outside of the belt that is has been rubbing on something. Anyways I'm planning on changing the timing belt and was wondering if there was something I should look for that I could have done wrong the last time that could of caused the belt to move over like that. Plus that noise is incredibly annoying and Im assuming it cant be doing anything good for my car. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Anthony

Based on the wear I'm seeing on the top of your belt, my first question would be, are you using a mechanical tensioner? Seems like you may have a bolt rubbing the belt, otherwise as far as the movement, NO.

It should stay in the center, if it doesn't, its due to improper tensioning sequence, or tension incorrect. Looks like you will be getting in there to check things out.

Jeff.

Originally posted by 2ndGen-ElTalon
Based on the wear I'm seeing on the top of your belt, my first question would be, are you using a mechanical tensioner?

No I should have stated that it's a hydraulic tensioner. I ordered all the parts from partsdinosaur.com and then like a week after getting the motor in the water pump went out so I had a shop replace it because I was tired of messing with the thing. I was positive the timing and tension were right when I did it but the shop could have done something I'm assuming since there is a lot less room while the motor is in the car.

Maybe they relocated one of the water pump bolts for timing cover bolt, or vice versa. They are the same thread pitch & length, there is a flange though on the timing cover bolts, maybe that flange is sticking out & that bolt is hitting the belt.

Sounds like the shop put something back incorrectly, or in the wrong spot.

Jeff.

This is the same exact thing my car is doing. I havent taken it apart yet to check it out but my belt has slid all the way over towards the valve cover and has that exact same sound to it. My belt is also showing signs of something rubbing on it as well. Could the sound be from incorrect tension or could it be noise from one of the pulley bearings or something?

Ok well I guess the only thing I'm gonna be able to do is tear into it and see what it looks like. thanks everyone

Im getting ready to tear into mine this weekend and just wondered if you got into yours and saw any issues? Im doing the water pump, tensioner, pulley's and cam shaft seals as well as the crankshaft seal all at once just so i dont have to tear into it again. oh yeah just incase anyone points it out ,I'm changeing the belt to..lol

Yup you got something wrong going on in there. I would suspect tension being a problem. The belt is too far over and, as noted, it is rubbing on something. I can't see how you can spin the pulley (the one under the exhaust cam pulley right?) by hand if the tension is correct.

IMO, isn't the shop under the gun to get this fixed?

Im not sure if this has anything to do with it or not but I did notice on my passenger side motor mount, where the bolt goes through to the wheel well. I cant seem to torque that bolt and it has worked its way back some. The torque specs I looked up says about 70 ft pounds but with mine it just keeps spinning when I try and tighten it up. Could this cause any problems? Anyone else ever have this problem and know a fix to get that thing to torque?

Hey sorry it took me so long to reply. I've been really busy with finals. I haven't torn into it yet cause I bought a new car but as soon as I get some money I'm gonna replace all the timing belt stuff. I'm thinking I just lost tension like bullettdsm and yes I was referring to the pulley by the exhaust cam. I won't really know until I tear into it but as soon as I do I'll post up what I find here.

Thanks guys

Don't really want to resurrect an old thread like this but I have stumbled on the fix to this noise when it comes to my car and feel it could help someone in future as well. Like was stated before, I had tried all the possible things I could think of and replaced all the timing components. Well I still had that annoying noise and decided to give it another shot. Here is what I found. The tensioner pulley bracket was the problem. Somehow over time the bracket and bolt has worn down to the point where it had a lot of play in it and instead of pivoting around the bolt nice and tight like it should the bracket could be moved back and forth as well as front and back. I replaced the whole bracket and bolt from another donor car I had and the noise is finally gone. The tension being off fixed the belt from walking over like the OP video shows but I still had the noise. New bracket and noise gone. May be something to check for anyone having the same issues.