WaryDriver

Civic 98 DX, D16Y7, EJ6

Please correct my procedures, thoughts, and give me any tips so I dont install the new timing belt incorrectly. Ive never done this.

I removed the harmonic balancer, upper and lower timing belt covers, and so now I can remove the old belt. I can see and access crankshaft gear(low), camshaft gear (very top), and water pump gear.

I'm concerned about me putting the new belt on and it being off by a groove or tooth somewhere in the path that the belt runs on. Being off by a groove/valley or tooth/bevel in the cam, crank, or water pump gear would throw the timing off it seems. I do not know if the old belt was installed perfectly either but my car seemed to run perfectly before. I could just paint markings on the old belt and gears then put those markings on new belt, Right? My car seemed to run perfectly before this so I might just do the markings in case gear(s) spin when removing the old belt.

Next step after painting the markings on the old belt and gears is to turn the center tensioner bolt 180 degrees CCW. Then the old belt has slack to come right out? Or do I have to push on the tensioner on the side where the belt is hitting for it to give slack? I don't want to break the tensioner pushing on it or something wrong since i dont have a new one. Ive broken enough things getting to this step that Ive had to go to junkyard way off for replacing.

Then after new belt is put on in rightfully positioned according to the matched markings on the new belt and gears.. Do i just torque that tensioner center bolt to 44 N*m and the correct tension will be placed on the new belt by torquing to that torque spec? How does the tensioner provide the correct belt tension??

Then, Turn the crankshaft 5-6 times CCW to see the belt is working, and then the job is done?? I dont want to reassemble engine and then have to unassemble again. So I want to make sure the job is done correctly.

I am not replacing tensioner even though its recommended i dont have the part and want to chance it.

mikey1

the water pump doesn't need to line up with anything, so dont worry about that,

rotate the engine by hand to line up the crank and cam to TDC, then remove the old belt

after you replace the belt rotate the engine by hand 6-8 times and make sure the crank and cam marks line up each time

EdGasket

I did mine recently. What I do is mark the old belt and the camshaft and crankshaft with tippex (whiteout). Then lay the new belt on top of the old belt and mark the new belt in the same way that the old belt is marked; count the number of teeth between marks too so you know you have it right. Then just fit new belt so its marks line up with the crank and camshaft marks you put on. Using this method you don't even need to find the factory timing marks and I didn't bother (they are not easy to find).

The cambelt tensioner has a spring on it which is supposed to apply the correct tension. However my kit came with a belt and tensioner but no spring. To my judgement, the old spring did not have enough 'pull' in it to tension the belt so I applied some additional tension to the tensioner by pushing upwards on it while tightening the tensioner bolt. You don't need it too tight but I wanted it a little tighter than the old spring was doing. Then I disconnected the old spring and took it right out. Once the tensioner bolt is done up its not needed and I didn't want it breaking or coming off and chewing up the belt which happened to one guy. Rotate the engine by hand a couple of times then check the belt tension by hand; should have a little give in it and you should be able to twist it 90 degrees on the longest run. If all is OK, put everything back together.

One of the biggest issues is undoing the pulley bolt so get onto that first because if you can't get that undone, you can't do the job. I used an electric impact wrench but took me 10 minutes with it before it shifted.

Let us know how you get on. Good luck; its a bit of a pain in the *** job if you ask me because there isn't a lot of room and a lot of stuff to take off.

mikey1

doing this will not help at all, the tensioner can still move after the bolt is tight, its the spring that is keeping the tension on the belt, not the bolt

ezone

EdGasket has a UK version 2000 year Civic hatchback, 1.4 engine.
It's not a D17 style tensioner.

mikey1

ooppss.....thought it was 7th gen