Ok I have installed cams before but this one is a lil different..I have the timing belt tool, and I put it in the hole, and turned clockwise to like tightening it..I did not see any slack remove...I was trying to do it according to the write up in the how to section with the tie straps, but I do not know if below the cam gears if the timing belt is loose or not..it feels tight, but I dont know how the me turning the timing belt tensioner tool helped.. When I put the cam gears back on the cam gears its is on time with the valve cover and I put it on time before removing the cam gears also..just trying to find out how the tensioner tool actually works.

 

There is a piece coming off the belt tensioner pulley that the threaded rod will push againist, compressing the tensioner and giving the belt slack.

 

The tool just keeps the T-belt tensioner from pushing out if you took the belt off.

The tool will have a hard time compressing the T-belt tensioner if that's what your doing.
Don't do it. You'll just strip the threads.
You should stop turning the tool if if you feel tension in it.
.

 

Sometimes it takes a bit of cautious cranking to fully compress the tensioner. Just remember to compress it slowly, about 1/4 turn at a time. You can pull the lower crank pully off to see if the slack is in the bottom half of the belt. Another thing you can do is gently rotate one of cam gears back and forth ever so slightly to see if that gives you any slack.

It is kind of a weird thing. I've done cam installs on many different evos and some of them seem to get more slack than others reguardless of the mileage on the car. Keep working at it and you will get. You really dont need that much slack anyway.

 

What he said and putting some oil or lube on the threads will help make sure it doesn't seize.

 

So the way to remove slack then is to just put the tool back in until I feel I cant turn it with light force anymore and then turn the crank pulley clockwise to make it tighten..once the slack is gone I can just take the tool out and it should keep to belt as tight? On my honda I just had a 14mm nut for the tensioner all I need to do is losen it, sometimes pry the tensioner up against or turn the motor a lil bit and the belt would tighten and then just tighten the nut for the tensioner? Is it the same concept?

 

You need to turn the tensioner tool quite a bit before you actually start to see the belt loosen. But it will eventually loosen. And just turn it enough so that you can take the cam gears off and not till it doesn't turn.

Also there's need to touch the crank pulley untill you're ready to turn the motor over to double check your timing.

As the other's have said just take you time and turn the tool slowly, about 1/4 turns untill the belt has enough slack to remove the cam gears. good luck

 

Not the same concept as the honda. The 4g motors actually have a hydrolic cylinder that pushes a pin out of it. The pin actuates a rocker type mechanism that attaches to the tensioner pulley. The tensioner tool actually enguages the rocker assembly, pushing the pin deeper into the the hydro cylinder releasing the pressure off of the pulley. Thats why you have to thread it in slow, so it doesnt blow the seals out of the cylinder. Sounds complicated, but if your looking at it, its pretty simple.

 

Thanks for help, I got it all worked out.. I was actually finished yesterday, but I was scared to remove the zip ties because when I used the tensioner tool it did not show any slack being released from the belt so I thought I did something wrong..today I remove the zip ties from the cams..turned the crank pulley by hand and it lined up perfect so then I said let me prime the motor without turning it on..did that 2 times and both times after realigning the timing marks it all came out on time..

 

Just a couple tips for the archives:

When doing the cam gear removal method I like to use a bungee cord from the belt to the hood, to keep th belt from slipping a tooth at the crank. It's good that you rotated it a few times and rechecked the alignment as well. That should always be done.

This job can also be done without the tensioner tool, but it requires removal of the accessory belt and timing belt cover. Remove the tensioner, compress it slowly in a vice, and use a small drill bit or allen wrench as a grenade pin (if you don't have 50 spare grenade pins laying around like I do). After you are done doing the work, double check the alignment and correct if necessary (still ziptie the belt to the cam gears, then all you have to worry about is the oil pump sprocket and crank), then install the tensioner and pull the grenade pin. If you don't touch the 14mm bolt in the tensioner pulley, the "tension" will not change (note that the tension is non-adjustable, it's the position of the tensioner's piston within it's designed range of motion that is adjustable). If you're ****, measure the gap between the tensioner body and swingarm, it should be betwen .15 and .17 inches.