I just finished installinga newtiming belt and when i started my car i noticed that my belt was trying to walk off of the cam gears. I was am wondering what could possibly be the cause of this? anything helpful would be appreciated. -Scott-

 

is the tensioner tight enough? if the belts to loose/or to short it can easily walk off

 

my belt is brand new so i am pretty sure its not the belt but exactly how tight should the tensioner be my chilton manual says to go 3 teeth past tdc (top dead center) and then tighten the tensioner. ?

 

I tried that... it says the same thing in the haynes manual. Unless your sprocket and pulley are on right it wont line up. You just have to make sure its TDC and your marks are lined up and one way you can do it is put the cursed bolt (pulley bolt) in without the pulley on it.. ..and hold it tight while you tighten up the tensioner. Thats how i did it.

 

Make sure the spring on the tensioner is working properly, with the tensioner bolt loose but not real loose. Turn the crank at least twice around counterclockwise by hand to seat the belt and then tighten the tensioner bolt while still pulling on the crank some. Then double-check that the marks hit TDC.

If you forgot to put the guide washer back on the crank sprocket that would cause the belt to walk off.

 

Thanks im gonna pull it apart and double check everything. anything else i should check for?

 

Did the old belt have edge damage when you took it off? Did someone else change out the belt since the factory? "Some" tension pulleys decrease tension when you tighten it. If you hear belt whine when running or going down the road it's too tight. I turn the crank nut counter clockwise several revolutions then tighten. Should be slight amount of deflection on the water pump side but nothing excessive. This is an area where DIY's get into trouble and some belts are set too loose and jump a tooth. Since I'm picky I prefer to check the tension, pull top coveron the next oil change to make sure all is ok. [/align]

 

yeah the old belt had edge damage?