Timing belt install
 

I installed a new timing belt and need a little help. I installed it on the crank pully then the oil pump, intake then exhaust pulley and then the tensioner. I then loosened the tensioner bolt and the spring pulled it against the belt. I then rotated the engine clockwise twice and checked all the timing marks lined up and torqued the tensioner bolt and rotated the engine twice more. I didn't check for equal tension as the manual says and I'm not sure how. Do I need to start over at step one and check the tension as mentioned in the manual? If so how? I'm gathering by the wording in the manual you loosen the bolt just enough to move the tensioner to make the tension equal but you don't let the spring put its full force on the pully, is that right? When I loosened the tensioner hold down bolt the pully kinda snaped in, in other words it wasn't like it gradually moved toward the belt. I also have no idea how to check for proper tension between the cam pulleys as mentioned in the TSRM. It sounds good but how do you do that?

The belt should be pretty tight to get on in the correct order and if you rotate it a few times the marks should always line up.

Superwhite, it sounds like you did everything right. Rotating the engine twice will even out the tension in the belt. As a check, just push on the belt between the cams to make sure the tension is even with no sloppiness. When I did my timing belt, I had to adjust the exhaust cam slightly with the dowel pins to get the timing dead on. Did yours need any adjustment?

Just put a beam type tension wrench on each cam bolt and rotate toward eachother until the reading matches on both... what's so hard here?

Suprisingly no, all of the timing marks lined up. I also checked at point A and B per the TSRM witha Kricket tension checker as well as beween the cam gears and they all checked the same. I'm not sure how to measure the downward pressure on the belt and measure the deflection distance at the point they indicate.:dunno: It seems like it would be very hard to be accurate. The Haynes manual doesn't even mention that step!

CRE: I found the directions in the TSRM confusing in reguards to thier method of checking for proper tension between the cams after turning the gears toward each other.