Cheaper too.

 

Haha thanks guys. The more I think about this the more I'm realizing how silly of a thought it was that all the valves could possibly be closed at once. Whoops!

This all started from me tensioning the balance shaft to the right instead of upward. Serves me right for working on my car after no sleep all week and being sick...at least I will never make that mistake again, ever! And to anyone who reads this in the future don't be like me. Let this be a lesson. Luckily its not an expensive mistake but the timing belt isnt back on yet to you'll better grab some popcorn and tune in tomorrow for the update

 

My post was made in no way to make you feel stupid. I just glanced through the thread and saw that no one was really addressing your concern of the cam moving, and no one clarified that only the #1 cylinder will have closed valves when the crank is at the TDC mark, which is why the cam moves. I know the feeling of not being sure, I always had the same feeling with the first few major things I did on my first truck (cam install and trans rebuild) and my dirtbikes (engine and suspension rebuilds) in high school. I've since learned that this stuff is a lot more simple than people make it out to be.

 

No worries bud I didn't take offence to your comment and I do appreciate your feedback. I know TDC related to the crank and then the prospective valves would only be closed for cylinder 1. As I think about this more though Im realizing that my initial thought were a little silly. But as I said I'd rather ask and clear up the confusion and confirm that I am in the clear than just hoping for the best.

Nice to see we have similar background. Mechanics isn't something I do by trade but have always considered myself hands on and love learning about this stuff. That and I don't trust anyone with my car other than my good friend who does the tuning. But yeah I started way back in the day taking apart my bike and that transitioned into dirtbikes and then cars. But yeah you're right most of this stuff is far simpler than it's cracked up to be. I remember rebuilding the top end on my YZ way back in the day thinking wow I have half this engine apart! Now looking back Im like wow that was a walk in the park I've found typically as long as you work carefully and stay organized most of this "stuff" isn't all that difficult.

Anyway, I'll be playing hooky from work tomorrow and finishing her up. Way more thrilling then going into the office...

 

So good news bad news...the good is that the car is back together engine runs no strange vibrations noises or anything. The bad news is that I think I may have to take it back apart.

Wish I could change the title of this thread as that was no issue as you'll confirmed. But now what I am experiencing is potentially too much tension on the timing belt. The belt feels quite tight except when its set to TDC where it loosens up a little which I know is normal. But even so it just seems a little too tight. The confusing and frustrating thing is that I spend a while setting the tensioner pulley to ensure the tension was proper. I got it to a point where I was able to slide the grenade pin in and out of the tensioner.

Also, I had read that the timing tensioner pulley will have the two holes facing upward which is how mine is set. See here: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ml#post7300757

However now I am seeing a picture such as this and thinking otherwise: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...er-pulley.html

The manual states to turn it counterclockwise but technically that doesnt mean anything depending on where the pulley starts in the first place. I didnt think anything of it since I thought the holes should be on the top. But now Im not sure if I aligned the pulley wrong...

And finally I ended up leaving my car outside last night. Usually the car sleeps in the garage but didnt last night and it was cold out. Temps were <20 degrees. Now the car has a mini battery and is on e85 so cold start can be interesting but it usually fires right up after work even when its been really cold out. It really struggled this morning which can be attributed to the tension being too tight thus making it harder to turn over. I did get it to start and there are no noises but it just all seems to strange.

So now Im at a loss. Im not sure why this time around its been fighting me so much. I dont know if the belt just needs to be broken in or if it is indeed too tight. Im more than annoyed at this point because I made a point to follow the instructions as far as being able to slide the pin in and out and I thought the pulley was supposed to have the holes on the top which is exactly as it is yet now it seems I may have gone wrong. This job isnt that hard. What gives!?

 

if you were easily able to pull the tensioner pin, then you are okay. it won't be able to put too much tension on the belt.

as for your issue with the adjustment holes on the pulley being up/down, etc.. i'm not sure.

 

Yeah we got it where the pin can slide in and out fine. Even waited the 15 minutes and then turned the engine over buy hand and checked again. That all seems to be spot on and the holes are right at the top which is where I thought they should be. But it just feels a little tighter than I'd think is proper. No strange noises however.

But the car struggling to start this morning is a little concerning. Maybe the belt just needs to stretch a little but Im not sure?

 

it doesn't work like that.

i'm told e85 is notorious for cold start issues.

 

Well that's a little dis concerning...so if the pin slides in and out freely then you'd think the tension is perfect, right?

And yeah cold starts on e85 can be tricky but that's a thing in the past for me. we have since dialed in the cold start issues. And its not that it didnt want to catch but rather that it was harder to turn over. It fired up fine while in the garage yesterday but after sitting the night outside it didnt want to start this morning. But the car has tuned over easier in colder temps so that's what I don't understand and too much tension on the belt could certainly contribute to it being harder to turn over...but this leads me back to the my question of how could it be too tight if it passed the pin test?

 

cold weather has an effect on your battery as well.

 

well aware of that. I have experienced a slower crank when it gets really cold out. My car is driven year round in New England and even recently where its been super cold out after sitting out all day while I was at work the car would turn over just fine. Slower sure but not to the point where I was nervous about it not starting. It just seems all too fitting that if the timing belt is too tight that could contribute to it being harder to turn over...

 

If you can ppull the pin in and out, your timing belt tension is fine. The belt runs pretty tight. It needs a lot of grip to turn the cams and not skip teeth..

 

Thank you that is reassuring. It certainly passed the test of being able to pull the pin in and out.

The only other thing I can think of is what I mentioned before about the pulley maybe being on wrong.

Can you confirm that this is correct with the holes on the top? This is how I have mine but Im also seeing this picture here:
This job isn't that difficult so I'm not sure why I seem to be struggling so much with this...

 

My tensioner holes are on the bottom and they're on the bottom in the service manual pictures. If you were to place them on top and try to tension by turning CCW you would be loosening the belt as it pivots around the bolt center.

 

Well f**k...can you link the page in the manual where it shows them on the bottom? I was specifically setting them to the top based on what I read from that other post.

Im seeing here https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...-belt-how.html on page 11a the holes on the bottom but Im not sure if that is after its supposedly tensioned.

I know for a fact the pin slides in and out easy as thats what I spend all my time focusing on yesterday. But if the holes are supposed to be on the bottom not top then that means my tension could indeed be off with the pin still able to slide in and out.

Worst part is the fact that I turned the balance shaft tensioner in the wrong direction but the timing belt one I was aiming for setting it up on the top as thats what I did in the past based on what I've read. But now for whatever reason it doesnt seem to be right on my car.