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If a tensioner fails, can that cause damage to the engine similar to a failed or broken belt? I am trying to decide if I want to spend another $70 to replace the tensioner when I do my Timing Belt. The dealer told me they do not normally replace the tensioner when they do a timing belt.
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In case anyone gets worried, the bolt loosens in the COUNTERCLOCKWISE direction (lefty loosey, like most normal fasteners).
I heard three, almost gunshot loud, pops before it finally broke free. It takes an insane amount of torque to remove this fastener, so dont worry. It will break loose eventually, but it seems like the world is going to come apart immediately before it comes loose.
I broke my 3/8" drive extension in the process, sheared the ext. head right off. My 1/2" drive chrome extention, socket and wrench made it happen (with a 6' weight bar over the end of the wrench).
I had propped the crank pulley holder tool up on a jack to keep it from turning, but when I leaned on the breaker bar, the car started to lift off the ground. So I braced the pulley holder tool against the frame of the car.
Great DIY sir! +1
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Last edited by briand17a2; 03-18-2008 at 11:06 AM.
Reason: sp
If a tensioner fails, can that cause damage to the engine similar to a failed or broken belt? I am trying to decide if I want to spend another $70 to replace the tensioner when I do my Timing Belt. The dealer told me they do not normally replace the tensioner when they do a timing belt.
Good question. Not sure.
Looking at the way the tensioner is engineered, the bolt that you have to tighten twice is always on the roller, and the roller is held in a position such that if the gas cartridge fails, the spring you have to put on the post will hold the tension on the belt to some degree. I'm not sure how effective that is, or how long-lasting it would be.
Anyone want to jump in on this one? Making a SWAG (Scientific Wild-Ass Guess) I'd think that with a failed tensioner AND spring it would cause the belt to slacken at idle, and under quick acceleration I guess the slack could cause the timing to be off by a fraction, but I don't think it would cause the belt to skip a tooth unless the tensioner was completely failed AND the belt was off the roller some how, which would definitely cause a FUBAR'd engine exactly like a broken timing belt.
When I was trying to figure out that woodruff key, I attempted to remove the timing belt after removing the spring / post and un-tensioning the belt to the max without removing the belt from the camshaft. It was pretty difficult, and you'd really have to try to do it.
That being said, I match-marked the belt to 2 places on the crank pulley, oil pump, and water pump. even when I didn't remove the belt EVER from the camshaft and I had the matchmarks lined up, I had still jumped a tooth. I would say it is POSSIBLE but UNLIKELY that a busted tensioner could jump a tooth. Jumping only 1 tooth would shut down your engine, but AFAIK unless you were at high RPM's you probably wouldn't bend a valve.
"If it's so essential, ask yourself why you've been able to live without it before now."
Try doing something nice for a total stranger, then look back at your car. Notice that the good feeling you get from helping lasts all day, but you constantly have to put stuff on your car to feel better.
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds
Last edited by reddawnman; 03-17-2008 at 05:58 PM.
I heard three, almost gunshot loud, pops before it finally broke free. It takes an insane amount of torque to remove this fastener, so dont worry. It will break loose eventually, but it seems like the world is going to come apart immediately before it comes loose.
I should have put that in the DIY - Exactly what happened with mine, I thought I'd broken the bolt at first, but yep, it sounds really loud and then it finally goes.
"If it's so essential, ask yourself why you've been able to live without it before now."
Try doing something nice for a total stranger, then look back at your car. Notice that the good feeling you get from helping lasts all day, but you constantly have to put stuff on your car to feel better.
i got mine at pepboys in the overpriced one time use tool section. Paid $50 for the tool, but seriously, it's worth it. That bolt has about eleventy billion foot pounds on it.
The haynes manual said to use a strap/chain wrench around the crank pulley (only after wrapping the pulley with an old section of belt to protect the pulley surface), but the pulley holder tool did the job for me.
That bolt was insane. I actually bent the arm of the holder tool ~10 degrees in the process. You need a breaker bar to develop torque on the fastener, I actually ended up taking an olympic weight bar apart and slid it over the end of a 1/2" drive 18" breaker bar to develop the necessary torque. But its done now. Dont forget to tension the AC/alternator belt properly, mine was squealing like woah yesterday and its a bastard to tension when everything's hot :P
"If it's so essential, ask yourself why you've been able to live without it before now."
Try doing something nice for a total stranger, then look back at your car. Notice that the good feeling you get from helping lasts all day, but you constantly have to put stuff on your car to feel better.
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds
Last edited by reddawnman; 03-23-2008 at 04:50 AM.
Well thanks to this excellent DIY, I started my timing belt job last night. I got pretty much everything cleared out of the way in just about 3 hours and now I'm ready to bust that awful bolt free. My question is where should I place my jack stands while I do it? I currently have them right behind the front wheels on the typical jack points. Is there a better place to put them before I apply what will probably be tremendous pressure as I work that bolt loose?
Well thanks to this excellent DIY, I started my timing belt job last night. I got pretty much everything cleared out of the way in just about 3 hours and now I'm ready to bust that awful bolt free. My question is where should I place my jack stands while I do it? I currently have them right behind the front wheels on the typical jack points. Is there a better place to put them before I apply what will probably be tremendous pressure as I work that bolt loose?
Nope, they go where they go. I would recommend putting an extra jack stand right below and out a bit from the wheel well where your ratchet extension is coming out of the crank pulley so you can brace the extension on it. When you get that set up, the brace allows you to make sure that all your force on the breaker bar is at 90 degrees to the bolt rotation, which ensures maximum torque.
Good luck - you'll hear a loud bang or two when you finally get the thing. That means you either broke your socket or you finally got the darn bolt.
"If it's so essential, ask yourself why you've been able to live without it before now."
Try doing something nice for a total stranger, then look back at your car. Notice that the good feeling you get from helping lasts all day, but you constantly have to put stuff on your car to feel better.
Red-
Super excellent DIY!!! I changed timing belt/water pump on a co-workers 01 LX this weekend, and it was a piece of cake. I can't wait til my 04 DX gets due for it, so I can do it again.
Many thanks for taking the time to write up this great DIY! I saved my buddy about $500 of labor, and he couldn't be happier.
I finished my timing belt this weekend and drove the car 29 miles to work this morning. I've never done much with cars except brakes, oil, transmission fluid changes, etc but decided to tackle this one for some experience. Was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. My only observation would be I found it easier to take the bumper off in order to get closer to the Crank bolt. Less extensions made for less twisting and bending and it came off pretty easily with a 4 foot cheater pipe on my breaker bar. Thanks to reddawn for a great DIY!
Great DIY reddawnman - 96000 on my 01 LX soon I will join the guild of timing belt/water pump/hell on wheels DIYers (well at least of civics - I have done this same procedure on 2 Saturn's already...never again, never...Honda pwns Saturn's)
+1 for reddawnman
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Last edited by HondaCivicCat; 06-17-2008 at 11:50 AM.
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