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I just did my T-belt and seals, but I'm leaving the covers off because I'm a little woozy over something and figured I'd search/post a question.

My Accord has 191k and this is the second t-belt, the springs on the tensioners are originals.

Well here's my issue, all the other t-belts I've ever done with automatic tensioners, once you release them, the belt is very taught...however, on my honda, the timing belt is a little snug but still kinda loose. And the balance shaft belt WAY loose. I've got springs pulling the tensioners...but...I'm not convinced they are automatic ones...are they?


The 10mm bolt that goes in the block that locks the t-belt tensioner in it's tightness was missing when I took my covers off. The spring is pretty good though (still kinda tough to pull, I used pliers to place it).

On the balance shaft tensioner...I bolted everything up and was able to put the spring on with no effort at all...the balance shaft belt is VERY loose. But the spring is in decent shape...it's almost fully compressed and doesn't pull.

So here are the questions...do I have to leave the tensioners at the mercy of the springs (assuming they are reversed I guess I could swap them back and they would be kept tight)? Why not just make the belts tight and then tighten my 10mm bolts and not rely on the springs at all?

Of course as the belt ages it could get slack...and since these springs don't seem to be tight..my belt won't stay tight right?

Also...according to haynes and a fsm I downloaded, you can adjust the belt tension by adjusting the 14mm bolt that holds the tensioners on...just how does this bolt do that? All it does is keep the tensioners from coming off the bolt they slide onto...from what I see the tension is "adjusted" via the springs and held by either the springs or by retightening the 10mm bolts.


My manuals aren't very helpful at this point because neither shows how the 14mm bolt does any adjusting and I don't see how it could...nor do they tell me whether or not I should tighten (and to what torque spec) the 10mm bolt on the timing belt tensioner and the 10mm bolt on the balance shaft tensioner (it's actually inbetween the tensioner and the spring on a metal arm)

 
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ok well I've gotten some replies on other forums...but none explain how exactly you're supposed to tighten the tensioners.

That missing bolt is actually where a cover bolt goes.

And these aren't automatic tensioners at all so it would have been nice for the haynes manual, and at least the FSM, to tell the proper belt tightening procedure.

 
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This is pretty awesome...I'm replying to my own thread and answering my own questions...this is such a great forum!
*insane amounts of sarcasm

JUST in case someone on this forum actually has the ***** to attempt to do some actual work on their car and needs this info...I'll go ahead and post what I found.

But I highly recommend the following forums if you ACTUALLY need HELP on how to FIX/WORK on your car properly...
In order of professionalism

http://www.hondaaccordforum.com
http://www.honda-tech.com
http://www.hondaunited.com

So here's what I did...
I ended up going back over the steps I've found and tightening the t-belt just a bit (and I do mean just a LITTLE bit) more than that spring did by itself, about to where the other belts I've done on other cars were.

On the balancer shaft belts I realize it was not meant to be too tight. One person said get it JUST tight enough not to jump teeth. Well I got it to where it wasn't stretched tight or hard tight...however I could say that...but not JUST enough to where it wouldn't jump teeth that is either. I used my finger (one finger only) to push on the tensioner enough to take out the slack really, but nothing excessive.

The car runs great, no noises, no problems. Runs like a champ still. Runs a little bit better but that's because my spark plugs and plug wires were old and worn not because of the belt change. Actually I think it's idles a bit more smoothly though...but I think that's just my imagination...I was pretty about lining up that balancer shaft housing (redid the o-ring on it) though.

I do recommend that anyone else in this position replace those springs, ESPECIALLY if this is t-belt in multiple of 2. This isn't my first rodeo so I had some exp. to draw on but not everyone does...so it's best to play it safe.

Another fella on a different forum noted that he had a similar issue with that spring, he went to the dealer and had them double check the part numbers, the spring was too long but showed up as the right part...odd

Well thanks for all my replies!