2G First time doing a timing job, everything line up but tensioner rod too long?

[Kryndon]

So I've got the book open, doing everything properly. I lined up all the marks, I kept the pin in the tensioner, I tensioned the pulley by using needlenose pliers and pulling it CCW so both small holes point down and are horizontal (as per FSM). While holding it to that position, I torqued the pulley bolt, threaded in the special tool just to apply slight pressure on the tensioner rod and removed the pin. I slowly unthreaded the tool and let the tensioner rest in it's operating position. I rotated the engine 6 times as instructed, and everything lined up perfectly. The belt tension feels just right (I have a habit of touching the belt while on the car).

However, the rod seems to be way more extended than what the FSM calls for. It suggests rod gap anywhere between 3.8 and 4.5mm, whereas I got 8.4mm as a final resting gap. The tensioner is not new, only the timing belt is. All the other timing components I am reusing because they only have 12k miles on them when I bought them brand new. I cannot remember if I bought an OEM tensioner, but I think I got some other brand. Could different brands have different shapes and lengths, which could throw my measurement off? Here's a quick vid showing all my timing marks:

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And here's a diagram of my tensioner's dimensions, as well as before/after side by side pics of the timing marks after doing 6 full engine revolutions.

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[Mello]

Not correct. You need more tension on the T-belt. It looks like the T-belt was too loose even before doing the 6 rotations. When I did my T-belt the 2 little hole you are using with the needle nose were rotated more over towards the 3 o'clock position than they show in your picture(s). If you have the long threaded rod that goes through & push on the lever arm for the hydraulic tensioner, you can use it to depress things and colapse the plunger back into the tensioner. If not you'll need to remoc=vew the hydraulic tensioner * put it into a vise & slowly depress it back in and put the grenade pin back to start over. When all is good & tensioned proper you should be able to pull the grenade pin & put it back in fairly easily after the rotation & rest period described in the FSM.

 

[Kryndon]

I understand. Actually I just noticed what may have happened. Here's the exact procedure from the FSM. I highlighted (in red) the part that I did do, which is positioning the 2 holes on the pulley to face down. But what I didn't really understand was the next part, highlighted in blue. I think the "press the tension pulley lightly against the timing belt" might be the thing that makes it go even more counter clockwise and apply the required tension. Even in it's current state, the belt felt fairly tense.

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I will re-do that part and pull the pulley even more CCW like you suggest. I'll then wait for the tensioner to settle and measure it's gap. I'm really hoping this is it, a new tensioner is out of budget

I will report back with what happens tomorrow!

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Not correct. You need more tension on the T-belt. It looks like the T-belt was too loose even before doing the 6 rotations. When I did my T-belt the 2 little hole you are using with the needle nose were rotated more over towards the 3 o'clock position than they show in your picture(s). If you have the long threaded rod that goes through & push on the lever arm for the hydraulic tensioner, you can use it to depress things and colapse the plunger back into the tensioner. If not you'll need to remoc=vew the hydraulic tensioner * put it into a vise & slowly depress it back in and put the grenade pin back to start over. When all is good & tensioned proper you should be able to pull the grenade pin & put it back in fairly easily after the rotation & rest period described in the FSM.

Correct. The pin will slide in and out easily at all times when everything is "perfect".
You are close. Just adjust the tension on the pulley a little tighter so the pin always slides in and out, even after 6 rotations.

 

[pauleyman]

I understand. Actually I just noticed what may have happened. Here's the exact procedure from the FSM. I highlighted (in red) the part that I did do, which is positioning the 2 holes on the pulley to face down. But what I didn't really understand was the next part, highlighted in blue. I think the "press the tension pulley lightly against the timing belt" might be the thing that makes it go even more counter clockwise and apply the required tension. Even in it's current state, the belt felt fairly tense.

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I will re-do that part and pull the pulley even more CCW like you suggest. I'll then wait for the tensioner to settle and measure it's gap. I'm really hoping this is it, a new tensioner is out of budget

I will report back with what happens tomorrow!

You're almost there. What you probably did is you allowed Slack on the firewall side of the belt. If you tried to tension the pulley but still have Slack on the back side you will not set the tension correctly on the hydraulic as you have seen. Now that you have rotated the motor you have removed all the slack. Line the marks up again and repeat the procedure with the pulley. When you are done you must have the correct protrusion as you are reading in the factory service manual. If it is not within limits you redo the job and you keep redoing the job until it is correct. The first time I did it took me about three tries. If you follow the manual exactly including the part about using a torque wrench you would probably get it on the first try. After awhile you get a feel for it. Regardless you're on the right track. I don't think the factory manual mentions this but I like to back off the exhaust cam 5/10 degrees counterclockwise and then rotate the crank 5 to 10 degrees clockwise as to remove any slack possible in the belt. This way all my marks lineup AND there is no slack in the belt. I then set tension and only the front side of the belt is receiving tension. Even after doing that I still follow the procedure of rotating the motor 6 times, lining up the marks again, and only then checking the protrusion of the tensioner. This is 100% objective. When it's right it's right.

 

[Mello]

To tell you the truth I don't really remember where my pin hole ended up. Last T-belt I did was 55K (miles) ago. I will remember more really soon because I'm almost to the 60K T-belt job time for me. I already bought all my stuff & am waiting for the weather to warm up & I'll be doing my T-belt. Most important is the grenade pin. If you can slide it back in after rotating & waiting than the tension is good & the plunger for the hydraulic tensioner is positioned in the middle of it's range of motion shouldn't bottom or top out during mecahnical dimensional change while the motor is running.

 

[Kryndon]

Thanks fellas. This is encouraging. I've also got a friend coming over tomorrow just to double check things, he's done DSM timing jobs before too. But I'm almost certain I just needed to apply more tension to the pulley, like Mello suggested.

 

[pauleyman]

Thanks fellas. This is encouraging. I've also got a friend coming over tomorrow just to double check things, he's done DSM timing jobs before too. But I'm almost certain I just needed to apply more tension to the pulley, like Mello suggested.

I understand. Actually I just noticed what may have happened. Here's the exact procedure from the FSM. I highlighted (in red) the part that I did do, which is positioning the 2 holes on the pulley to face down. But what I didn't really understand was the next part, highlighted in blue. I think the "press the tension pulley lightly against the timing belt" might be the thing that makes it go even more counter clockwise and apply the required tension. Even in it's current state, the belt felt fairly tense.

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I will re-do that part and pull the pulley even more CCW like you suggest. I'll then wait for the tensioner to settle and measure it's gap. I'm really hoping this is it, a new tensioner is out of budget

I will report back with what happens tomorrow!

You got me curious. I went back and looked in the manual. You need to read further. You stopped too soon. The very next section shows you how to remove slack and apply tension properly. Sounds like you just set it at dots down and left it. That instruction isn't wrong, just incomplete.

 

[pauleyman]

Also noticed that you have no balance shafts. That being said the oil pump sprocket mark no longer matters. Fine the way you did it, just a little info.

 

[Kryndon]

You guys are the best! It really does seem like I completely ignored Part C of setting timing belt tension, which was literally on the next page in the manual

Went ahead, crafted my very own tensioner pulley tool (it works very effectively!) and went to town. Tensioned it just right, torqued it, rotated crank 6 times, waited 15 minutes and my 2mm drill bit could easily slide all the way through. I kept checking 3 more times in the span of an hour just to be safe, and once more after about 6 hours. It's all tensioned and aligned. I'm 100% confident we've got this sum'bi*** timed. Here's another video of how it all looks. The gap measures 4mm (using the drill bit method since my calipers can't really fit nicely).

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Here's all the tools I used, including the special tension smiley face tool:

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[Mello]

Also another thing is the rotation of the tensioner pulley will change if the head or block has been resurfaced

 

[chrysler kid]

Also another thing is the rotation of the tensioner pulley will change frif the head or block has been resurfaced

That is why you don't just randomly rotate the pulley like a rookie lube tech eyeballing a job to make it pass the eyeball test.

There is a specific torque value of the tensioner pulley to be rotated against the belt with the grenade pin in the tensioner.