Civic Timing Belt Change

[Davant95]

To all,

We change the timing belt of my Honda civic lx '93 1.6, now the car has
little power. The car run smooth on idle but on 2nd gear the car will not
pull that much and battery light in the dash board will comes up when the
idle goes low sometimes. I need to check if we connect the sensor attached
by the crankshaft timing belt gear, will this cause the problem. I also
suspect the tensioner adjustment is wrong. Any input is appreciated.

Davant95

 

[Chip Stein]

To all,

We change the timing belt of my Honda civic lx '93 1.6, now the car has
little power. The car run smooth on idle but on 2nd gear the car will not
pull that much and battery light in the dash board will comes up when the
idle goes low sometimes. I need to check if we connect the sensor attached
by the crankshaft timing belt gear, will this cause the problem. I also
suspect the tensioner adjustment is wrong. Any input is appreciated.

Davant95

probably a tooth off on the timing belt, causing no power and the low idle.
pull the upper cover and check it again.
Chip

 

[Bill B. Johnson]

To all,

We change the timing belt of my Honda civic lx '93 1.6, now the car has
little power. The car run smooth on idle but on 2nd gear the car will not
pull that much and battery light in the dash board will comes up when the
idle goes low sometimes. I need to check if we connect the sensor attached
by the crankshaft timing belt gear, will this cause the problem. I also
suspect the tensioner adjustment is wrong. Any input is appreciated.

Davant95

I have not seen this problem before so I can only guess. It's possible
that it is slipping or perhaps some teeth are missing or perhaps there may
be some oil or grease on the belt--causing it to slip. I have not worked
on a civic 93 but if you can run the car on idle while the cover of timing
belt has been removed--do it. Have a friend push in on the gas pedal while
you watch the belt. See if it is slipping or not working correctly.
Another option is to take it to a Honda dealership and let the mechanic
check it for you. An expert mechanic could figure out the problem after
removing the belt and taking a close look at the teeth.

 

[E. Meyer]

Its unlikely that its slipping. If it is you will have to replace it again.
I would say there is a very good chance the belt is off by one cog. Take
the cover off and recheck the alignment marks on the pulley & sprocket.
When you reset it, make sure you follow the alignment procedure exactly &
verify that its correct before you put it all back together.

 

[John D.]

If his car "runs smooth" at idle, it is NOT the belt. If the belt was
off even one "tooth" it probably wouldn't even start let alone run. If
it DID start, it'd sound like crap at ANY speed, real rough idling,
backfiring, you name it.

I'd look elsewhere for the problem.

John D.

 

[John D.]

Then they must be much more forgiving than timing chains: If you're
off one tooth with a chain, it's just as I said.

John D.

 

[Stephen Bigelow]

Then they must be much more forgiving than timing chains: If you're
off one tooth with a chain, it's just as I said.

John D.

Smaller teeth, therefore closer spacing, on a belt.

 

[k_teppo]

I disagree based on personal experience. Many cars will run if the belt is
off by one tooth, My VW rabbit slipped one tooth on the belt (a little rock
got under it). It ran smoothly, but had no power and overheated easily
until the belt was realigned. The symptoms were almost exactly what he
describes.

...snip..

I'll second that. I replaced the timing belt in my '89 civic. I lined
up the cam and crank sprockets and put the belt in place. I was paying
attention to setting the tension of the belt, and didn't realize that
I was putting the crank sprocket 1 tooth ahead of the cam in doing so.
This retarded the mechanical timing -- valvetrain timing retarded with
reference to the crankshaft timing. This caused extremely poor power
below 3000 rpm. Around 3000 RPM, things picked up -- almost normal
power. Took it back apart, re-set mechanical timing, engine works
properly -- lesson learned.

If this is the case with the OP's car, he will need to adjust the
crank sprocket 1 tooth clockwise to fix. And double-triple check the
alignment marks in accordance to the repair manual!
A timing belt that is one tooth out will not bang up your valves or
cause your engine to immediately melt down. It will just operate VERY
poorly. Just take it all apart and re-check.

Hope this helps!
k