I gauged the tension of the old balance shaft belt using my finger seeing how far I could slip it in between the belt and I set the new one a hair tighter when I tightened the pulley down...was this incorrect?

 

Should be fine.

 

I noticed in the DSM 2G guide, that is linked to several times in this thread,that it recommends to rotate the tensioner pulley counter clockwise to achieve correct tension. Any thoughts on that? I dont see what the difference would be as long as the grenade pin test passes.

 

I need some help, I did everything how its wrote here, my car turns on and then it just truns off? what can be the problem here? I have the Gates Racing belt. Advice would be helpful.

 

Have you confirmed that all your sensors have been properly installed and electrically reconnected? Crankshaft position sensor, camshaft position sensor, etc? Does the car runs for several seconds and then sputter and die or just stop? A video of what is happening would be very helpful. Also, you can confirm that all the timing marks are lined up?

 

Everything is lined up correctly, I turn it on it works for like 2 seconds and just dies.

 

Also on the air filter there is like cracking sounds coming when i turn the car on. I dont know what the heck is wrong. Did everything right.

 

Thanks for the great write-up. I just did my timing belt following the directions in the first post.
Here are some tips based on what I did.
I did not need to use any special Mitsubishi tools, also the screw driver trick to lock the oil sprocket wasn't necessary because when I took the timing belt off, the oil sprocket didn't move on it's own.
The Evo IX mivec cam doesn't have a nut in the center, so I bought this longer nut from Home Depot that was the same size as the mivec cam hole (14 mm) and then used a wrench to hold the cam into position.
For the timing belt tensioner pulley that has the two holes for the special mitsu tool, I just bought this steel rod from home depot, the diameter size that fits snuggly in the holes, and cut it up into 2 one inch pieces, then put them in the holes and used a screw driver in between to twist it until pulley is in the correct position.

 

How many teeth should be between the marks on the can gears? 18? It seems loose

 

Do to having built motor with no balance shafts should I just skip part about getting them out of phase?