Timing belt issue with '90 GSX.

[half-cocked]

I'm about to buy my cousins GSX and he drove it to my house (about 100 miles away) and I was asking him some questions about it. He tells me he just did the timing belt 2 weeks ago and I was suprised because he isn't the type to jump into doing somthing like that. Just to make sure I asked him what directions he followed and he used a haynes manual but we got onto the subject of getting proper tension on the belt and he was clueless. So upon further inspection it turns out the belt is undertensioned. The belt looks normal and the timing marks line up on the cams so I am assuming the rest of the car is still timed and it runs fine. If the belt was undertensioned can there be damage to the belt or engine from driving on it?

 

[RacethisTSI]

if your going to push the car then yes tension on the timing belt is a big deal...if theres no tension check to make sure the the auto tentioner does not need to be replaced....or maybe he just didnt push the tesioner out far enough

 

[huafist]

I'm about to buy my cousins GSX and he drove it to my house (about 100 miles away) and I was asking him some questions about it. He tells me he just did the timing belt 2 weeks ago and I was suprised because he isn't the type to jump into doing somthing like that. Just to make sure I asked him what directions he followed and he used a haynes manual but we got onto the subject of getting proper tension on the belt and he was clueless. So upon further inspection it turns out the belt is undertensioned. The belt looks normal and the timing marks line up on the cams so I am assuming the rest of the car is still timed and it runs fine. If the belt was undertensioned can there be damage to the belt or engine from driving on it?

If it's a recent job, and the car still runs good, my guess would be it's not had a chance to skip teeth yet. Tear it down and retension the belt before the car is driven another mile or your cousin might have an AWD lawn ornament.