timing belt problem

[2GbRS]

i keep installing the belt as the book says, half a tooth btdc around the water pump up arount the idler pulley around the gears back around the tensioner pulley then rotate crank to tdc to pull the slack then apply whatever ft lbs on the tensioner pulley and install the plunger.. pull pin out back in and out and every time i'm off by a half a tooth on the crank after 2 revolutions on the crank..


pissing me the #### off, anyone have an idea whats up?

 

[Rob10_99]

Keep it tight on the back side tward the drivers seat. Twist on the pulley and tighten.
The belt should be lined up before you pull the pin, if its not, then your doing it wrong.

Either way, noticed your 420a.... uhh...

 

[jeremy19984g63]

If its just a half a tooth you're good to go. You cant make up for half a tooth.

let me guess. Its half a tooth retarded right?

 

[2GbRS]

everything lines up as i put tension on the belt. so when i pull the torque wrench towards the front of the car so i can tighten the plunger it always pulls the crank pulley forward. so if i take a wrench and pull it back it throws the cam gears off. very frustrating

 

[#40Fan]

It is the belt. Get an OEM or set the cam gears where they align when the crank is slightly before TDC. That will allow the marks to get closer when the belt stretches.

 

[jeremy19984g63]

take a pic with the cam gears lined up and one of the crank gear, So i can see what you got.

 

[2GbRS]

i was kinda wondering if it was the belt. it's a duralast belt from autozone. that bad?

 

[jeremy19984g63]

If its half a tooth retarded, then when the belt stretches it will be perfect.

 

[2GbRS]

it moves a half a tooth past tdc if that helps

 

[jeremy19984g63]

it been a little while since i've worked on a 420a. but half a tooth is nothing to worry about at all. take some pics if you can

 

[#40Fan]

Get a belt from Napa or other "good" store.

 

[adamzty]

it moves a half a tooth past tdc if that helps

Then compensate for that by putting it 1 full tooth before TDC instead of 1/2 tooth before you put the tensioner on.

 

[2GbRS]

i'll take some pics in the mourn when i go back out to work on it. i'll try a few more things with it and if it's to sketch then i'll take the belt back and go get one from napa or mitsu

 

[urmomsaniceguy]

The brand of belt has nothing to do with it. I have rebuilt my motor and i purchased a duralast belt from autozone. Dont use the book on the car. If you can get a timing belt book. I had the same problem.
The notch on the crank, turn the crank counter clockwise to the next tooth. Instead of 1/2 go with 1. By the time you tighten everything it should work.

 

[2GbRS]

awesome, i'm about to go finish the belt and try and get it started.. thanks

 

[bullettdsm]

it been a little while since i've worked on a 420a. but half a tooth is nothing to worry about at all. take some pics if you can

Not true.

It is the belt. Get an OEM or set the cam gears where they align when the crank is slightly before TDC. That will allow the marks to get closer when the belt stretches.

Not true. Our belts do not stretch. Brand will mean nothing except for strength and longevity.

Then compensate for that by putting it 1 full tooth before TDC instead of 1/2 tooth before you put the tensioner on.

True statement. When you line it up properly, you will know. You will say to yourself "There it is".

OP, sorry I missed the early part of your thread. I just get busy sometimes.

MB

 

[2GbRS]

so your also saying to try a full tooth instead of the books way going a half tooth? i've been meaning to get out and work on my car but it's soooo stupid cold out that i don't want to. it's inside but there's no heat and it's 2 degrees out so working in the shop is only a bit better then outside at this point. maybe tonight i'll try hahaha.. thanks for the input tho, makes sense

 

[cs82685]

so your also saying to try a full tooth instead of the books way going a half tooth? i've been meaning to get out and work on my car but it's soooo stupid cold out that i don't want to. it's inside but there's no heat and it's 2 degrees out so working in the shop is only a bit better then outside at this point. maybe tonight i'll try hahaha.. thanks for the input tho, makes sense

set the crank sprocket 1/2 tooth btdc. Install the belt rotate two times and look at how your cam gears are off. Remove the belt set your cam gears off the same amount but in the opposite direction. (i.e. if your intake cam is 1/2 tooth too far turned to the right, set it to 1/2 tooth to the left) Set the crank sprocket back to 1/2 tooth btdc and reinstall the belt, rotate twice and now your cam gears should have moved to being lined up properly when your crank sprocket is at tdc. It may take a couple tries this way, but I had the same problem as you my first time, was given this advice and got it in no time after that.

 

[2GbRS]

so what i ended up doing to get the timing marks right, i went a full tooth and that was off by just a little bit, so the next try i went 3/4's tooth btdc and that worked out perfect. at this point tonight it's completely back together besides putting in new spark plugs, the new wires, oil filter and oil. and then fill er up with water. i'll tell ya the vaccuum box on the back is freak'n a bi*** to work with.

well, finally done. finished up tonight, i still need to go down and have the coolant flushed, there's some oil from before still in the system. not much, but definetly worth flush'n... thanks for the help everyone offered, hopefully this is the last time i have to dink with shit under the hood. i'm not very impressed with how tight everything is but the rest is pretty easy.

 

[mhDSM09]

Glad you got everything figured out. When I did my tbelt I kept being off by a tooth when I went by the book's 1/2 btdc. After a few tries of tensioning and getting the same result. I ended up lining up the crank sprocket timing mark right on tdc and tensioned and rotated 4 times. Everything lined up perfectly so it may be a little different for everyone, that or my DSM is just a little special

 

[2GbRS]

it's not like these cars are hard to work on. I always say it's all about process and once you got that down the next time things fly instead of dragging ass like my project. This thing took me 3 weeks to complete. But i wasn't working on it everyday. hours upon hours of reading on the best way to do shit along with reading the book. might have had 4-5 days of 3-4 hrs at a time working on it but i know i did everything right and by the book. I don't plan on buying another dsm, I'm not sure why mitsu thought it would be a great idea to cram this dual cam so far in there that it will drive one insane trying to work on it.

At the end of all this i wish i had just taken the motor and trans out of the car to work on it.would have solved alot of my instant raging i had going on. i took it for a test drive and alls well so what ever, it runs. only bought it cause it was a good deal, now it's time to sell and buy a damn 4wd like i had intended to do before this project fell into my lap.

If i do go down the dsm path again it's going to be for a real dsm, the oh mighty GSX and not the commuter RS i began with this time. not taking away from the comfort of this car, i just like raw grunt to go with the looks. I thank everyone on this forum again, alot of you helped major. over in the honda scene it's not so friendly. you end up doing things in trial and error to find shit out cause the guys all talk so much shit.