dbailey

So I replaced the camshaft position sensor around 3 months ago when my son's 04 Civic LX 1.7 kicked a P0344 code and it fixed it. Now it kicks the code again yesterday and my son continued driving it back home from over the mountain. I got a new sensor and replaced it thinking that had to be what it was. Installed it and started it and was making a plastic sounding type of sound around the upper timing belt cover like something was rattling inside it. Took it back apart and noticed a little place on the back side of the cover like something was rubbing it. Then I notice the timing belt is loose on the front side of the engine side. ALMOST loose enough that if I pulled on it hard enough I could probably pull it off of the camshaft pulley. Hoping somebody sees this that is a really good engine mechanic that can give me some info as to whether the belt is supposed to be loose on one side or if that means something is broken. The back side of the belt if pretty tight. Will watch for some replies before I put it back together. Thanks guys.

ezone

The tensioner is only spring loaded, floating, never locked in place, so if the cam pulley is sprung to one side the tensioner will move and allow slack in the belt. If you rotate the crankshaft the wrong way, it can jump time.

Correct crank rotation is counterclockwise. Turn it to take slack out of the belt.

Do not rotate the cam pulley to spin the crank.

Look and see if the spring for the timing belt tensioner has broken, detached, or the eyelet on the pulley that the spring used to connect to has worn through.

dbailey

Thanks for the tips/suggestions. Will do that this morning. Sorta hard to see the spring looking down thru the top of the lower timing belt cover. I remember seeing what looked like a spring last night but its really hard to tell and am not real sure how hard it is to remove that lower cover. Hoping the rotating the crank will tighten up that belt. Hate to have to have it towed to replace the belt and other stuff while its open. Will report back. Thanks again.

ezone

Get a flashlight, you can see if the spring is still connected to the tensioner pulley. If the spring broke, it won't be attached and will probably be missing from its usual location.

Hell, just roll the crank the right direction to take up the slack. If the spring is missing it will let the belt stay very loose on the rear side.

dbailey

Yea I used a flashlight to see what I could see with everything in the way. I could see the tensioner spring laying down in the bottom of the lower belt cover and looks like the tip is missing (the part that hooks to the nub sticking off of the engine). Turned the crank and the mega slack just transferred to the back side. Thank God the belt didn't jump while driving it with the tensioner effectively not working. Gonna take it to Firestone that my buddy is the store manger of. They quoted $599 to R&R the water pump and will replace the belt and tensioner for parts only since they have to be right there anyway. My buddy will give me a break on the price when he gets back to work Monday to ease the pain on my son. Thanks again for suggestions.

ezone

I'd be using a Honda dealer tensioner and spring set at the very least. Aftermarket counterfeit tensioner pulleys are known for incredibly premature bearing and spring failures.
Remember, these engines can bend valves when the timing belt lets go. That's why I don't "cheap out" on timing components.

I service a few of these Civics that are at or over 300k, and they didn't make it to that mileage on DangerZone type parts.


I should say that about the water pump as well.



Peruse this thread about an extremely premature failure caused by 'too cheap' parts, the OP did not heed the warnings he received when he first asked about them: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/36-mechanical-problems-vehicle-issues-fix-forum/359578-i-am-stuck-side-road-what-happened.html

dbailey

Good points on the dealer vs aftermarket. The dude at Firestone said that they use the same brand belt that the dealer uses but I didn't ask him about the tensioner and waterpump. Will do that. Thanks again!