11 replies to this topic

[DaBossk]

Hey guys, so I thought maybe my water pump bearing was going bad because I was hearing a noise so I removed the timing belt. I now don't care about the  bearing noise I was hearing because now that the timing belt is put back on the car doesn't idle correctly!!!! 

 

Now the car was running PERFECT before I removed and reinstalled the belt. (the d16a1 probably had 7,000 miles driven on it since I swapped it myself, so the bugs were worked out pretty good)

 

So is this just the biggest coincidence of mankind or what? I am very positive I have the timing belt on correctly.

 

 

 

 

-@@~~~SO what's happening?~~~@@-

 

once the car starts you can kinda tell somethings off. the exhaust doesn't sound smooth. it sounds choppy.

 

once the car warms up that's when the idle surges hard! It goes from like 800-300rpm and sometimes dies along with having a very choppy exhaust. however the car does start instantly if it does stall

 

if you are moving at speed for example 40 or 50 mph and you throw it in neutral the rpm will do exactly what it does at idle, fluctuate from 300-800 rpm and sometimes dies!

 

***as for power the car will rev up to like 5k-ish but it seems like 6-7k sounds clattery! I hope that's not my valves destroying themselves.

 

 

Now as for plugs, cap/rotor, air filter, fuel filter, wires

 

 

I just replaced the spark plugs with brand new ones with no change

the air filter is brand new

the fuel filter is like 20k miles old.

the spark plug wires are maybe 10-15k miles old

the cap and rotor don't look perfect but I cleaned the contact points with sand paper

 

 

Please help me guys! What should I do???

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaBossk]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this is How I did the timing. I set the cams up to where you can slide the pins into the slots, then I removed #1 spark plug (the one closest to the timing belt)and  put a screw driver into the spark plug hole and confirmed that the #1 cylinder was at tdc.

[1985 CRX SI]

Did you line up the tdc mark on the crank pulley?
Did you rotate 2 whole crankshaft revolutions and recheck?
I have got this wrong so many times.
This is what it sounds like to me.
Jeff

[shuttlecraft]

"Now the car was running PERFECT before I removed and reinstalled the belt"

 

Seriously, This is your answer.  It sounds exactly like it's off by one tooth.  My guess it's the exhaust cam.  There should be corresponding marks on the pulleys that indicated alignment.

[DaBossk]

I really appreciate you two responding to my thread.

 

I was fiddling around with the timing earlier today and I made it run a little better but the timing still has to be off... basically the markings on my crank pulley need to line up with the arrow on the aluminum block? That is very hard to eyeball.

 

Also when I have the timing belt across the two cams you can't really make the belt tight in the middle of the cams... what's the trick? I'm going to take pics of the crank pulley marks and cam marks and show you guys.

 

 

Also how easy is it to bend your valves with running your car with the timing off? I'm really worried I may have damaged my valves

[DaBossk]

Actually Should I just forget about that whole arrow by the crank pulley and the notches on the crank pulley and just set cylinder #1 at tdc using a screw driver, and then shim the cams with the 2 5mm punches?

 

 

That would make the car in perfect time wouldn't it? This problem is keeping me awake at night :/

[anjin]

It is very easy to be one tooth off. The cam gears like to move around.

My technique is:

• have some thin and bendable plastic strip between the belt and cam gear,
• have the timing belt firmly but not tightly adjusted so there is no loose play in the belt,
• make sure the timing belt is tight on the side away from the water pump
• move the cam gears under the plastic strip until the teeth line up,
• gently ease the plastic strip out while keeping the cam gears from moving
• and then tighten the adjusting pulley tensioner and do up the bolt  (use a coat hanger hook to pull on it, for example)

You can still get it wrong this way if you allow the cam gears to move, but the initial adjustment is a lot easier to do.

 

If you can't get to see the arrow on the bottom crankshaft pulley, the doing top dead centre off the piston is ok. Be accurate.

[shuttlecraft]

What anjin is saying about the characteristics of the belt around the pulleys is good advice although he lost me on "the cam gear like to move around."  Not sure what he meant.  Anyway, the FSM discusses the procedure for belt replacement that accounts for belt slack and tension following installation.  Your pic post of the the pins in the cam holders is correct.  So it must be the placement of the belt around the crank gear that is off by a tooth.  As angin said, it is easy to be off because you need to account for the tension on the correct side of the belt.  You should be rotating the assembly counterclockwise on the crank.  See FSM 6-17.

 

The timing mark for the crank pulley is on the plastic cover.  Not the aluminum block.

 

STOP! shim the cams? NO!

 

You won't bend the valves.  I once drove a 89 teg from Vanc Wa to Mich with the exact condition your describing.  I knew something was amiss but I didn't have the resources at hand to fix the problem.  It wasn't until I got the vehicle home and in the garage that I was able to figure out the issue.  Yup! off by a tooth.  That trips was a whole story unto itself.

[DaBossk]

 

What anjin is saying about the characteristics of the belt around the pulleys is good advice although he lost me on "the cam gear like to move around."  Not sure what he meant.  Anyway, the FSM discusses the procedure for belt replacement that accounts for belt slack and tension following installation.  Your pic post of the the pins in the cam holders is correct.  So it must be the placement of the belt around the crank gear that is off by a tooth.  As angin said, it is easy to be off because you need to account for the tension on the correct side of the belt.  You should be rotating the assembly counterclockwise on the crank.  See FSM 6-17.

 

The timing mark for the crank pulley is on the plastic cover.  Not the aluminum block.

 

STOP! shim the cams? NO!

 

You won't bend the valves.  I once drove a 89 teg from Vanc Wa to Mich with the exact condition your describing.  I knew something was amiss but I didn't have the resources at hand to fix the problem.  It wasn't until I got the vehicle home and in the garage that I was able to figure out the issue.  Yup! off by a tooth.  That trips was a whole story unto itself.

 

 

I'm going to try and mess with the car tomorrow.

 

you say "See FSM 6-17."

 

where can I download that at? the only service manuals I've seen on this site were for the regular single cam engines

 

[1985 CRX SI]

http://www.g1teg.org...c.php?f=14&t=10

[anjin]

What I meant was that the camshafts are under tension from the rocker lobes and valve springs, and can move a tooth when you slip the belt over. I set up the belt under light tension and can move the camgear to the correct position under the plastic bit, and it doesn't move sideways and drop into the wrong position when I slide the plastic out and the belt settles into the cam gear teeth.

[DaBossk]

http://www.g1teg.org...c.php?f=14&t=10

 

 

YESSS!!! That is exactly what I needed, thanks a lot. I will let you guys know when I get it right  

 

 

I feel so dumb, I never realized that I need to match the crank pulley with the notch on the timing cover! I thought it was the notch/arrow on the aluminum block...