Just Replaced Timing Belt

[Fry_33]

and whoever said gates belts are shit is a moron

I agree with this one as Gates make about 75% of the timing belts for all cars. The Racing timing belt is more than likely made on the same mold as the standard one.

My Gates racing belt makes a slight noise every now and then, I just haven't gotten around to checking the tension of it as it was done by a workshop.

[made_guy]

i think that's pretty slack of a mechanic to just palm off the noise saying "it can wait til next service".... and if a mechanic doesn't know to turn the crank 360 degrees twice before tightening the tensioner...sheesh.

i had a weird ticking noise last week when i did my own service.... i had forgotten to tight the bolt holding the lower ac belt pulley on.... tightened that and the distributor belt got loose! tightened that and it's been all good.

Also i used a greddy belt and replaced the idler and tensioner and sometimes i hear a slight "hum-hum hum-hum" which 'appears' to be the idler, which people say is normal on a fresh install and just needs a bit of running in to settle down the noise.

[nzm033]

my gates racing belt used to make a whirling sound all the time and then my mechanic re-tensioned it and now i cant hear it any more...only when its heaps cold, theres a faint sound but apart from that its ok

[Fry_33]

I am bringing this one back because my timing belt is shitting me.

It is noisy at idle and gets slightly louder at about 1000rpm.

This was my second attempt as I got down to the harmonic balancer last time and one of the holes to use with the balancerpuller was stripped. I ended up running out of time and having to put it back together without adjusting it.

I ripped everything necesary out using a 3 fingered puller to remove the balancer and adjusted the tension.

I losened the tensioner mounting bolt and turned the engine over a number of times to adjust the belt tension as stated in the book and by Dave below.

I put everything back together and.. its still noisy, maybe even worse. fn great! I just thought I'd run this by everyone and hopefully someone can describe exactly what they do when adjusting the tensioner.

I losened the tensioner mounting bolt and turned the engine over a number of times bringing it back to rest on TDC. I then just put an allen key in the tensioner to hold it in place and tightened the mounting bolt. I can't see how I can really get this wrong.

Does everyone else bring it right back to TDC to tighten the tensioner or do you do it slightly before so the tensions not quite as high?

Ok, after saying all of this I have been under the impression the whole time that maybe I should be removing the spark plugs when doing this. The manual I have doesnt say that for the RB25DE(T) but Ijust noticed that it says it for the RB20 and RB26. Does anyone take the plugs out to do the tension of the belt?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

if its to tight (very common mistake) it makes a wir wir wir wir noise

if its to loose it makes a flap flap flap noise.

the belt tension adjustment needs to be as follows.

with the belt on and the tensioner not done up...wind the motor over to take up the slack in the belt. then simply lock off the tensioner. (thats what the spring is for lol )

hope that helps

[made_guy]

I am bringing this one back because my timing belt is shitting me.

It is noisy at idle and gets slightly louder at about 1000rpm.

This was my second attempt as I got down to the harmonic balancer last time and one of the holes to use with the balancerpuller was stripped. I ended up running out of time and having to put it back together without adjusting it.

I ripped everything necesary out using a 3 fingered puller to remove the balancer and adjusted the tension.

I losened the tensioner mounting bolt and turned the engine over a number of times to adjust the belt tension as stated in the book and by Dave below.

I put everything back together and.. its still noisy, maybe even worse. fn great! I just thought I'd run this by everyone and hopefully someone can describe exactly what they do when adjusting the tensioner.

I losened the tensioner mounting bolt and turned the engine over a number of times bringing it back to rest on TDC. I then just put an allen key in the tensioner to hold it in place and tightened the mounting bolt. I can't see how I can really get this wrong.

Does everyone else bring it right back to TDC to tighten the tensioner or do you do it slightly before so the tensions not quite as high?

Ok, after saying all of this I have been under the impression the whole time that maybe I should be removing the spark plugs when doing this. The manual I have doesnt say that for the RB25DE(T) but Ijust noticed that it says it for the RB20 and RB26. Does anyone take the plugs out to do the tension of the belt?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

Sorry mate, only just saw your post.

I'll start with your question about turning the crank a couple of times - Yes you should turn it twice and you should notice as you do it that the tensioner will move slightly as your turning it. Make sure the tensioner bolt is loose enough to allow the tenionser to move freely under the force of the belt. After the 2nd turn to tdc you should see that the tensioner has moved as far towards the idler as it will on it's own - this is where you should tighten it.

If it's making a noise after that i'd ask -

How old is the belt? Have you changed the idler? Have you changed the tensioner and/or tensioner spring (this is one most people don't do).

As for your plugs....well it's up to you - it won't alter any belt noises that's for sure. Just change em if they're old and worn, otherwise don't bother unless you really have your heart set on a new set.

[benm]

Approx how long does it take to replace the timing belt + tensioner bearing + water pump on an Rb26?

[Fry_33]

Thanks Dane,

I pulled the damn thing apart again on sunday and retensioned it. Put her back together and all was quiet.. fantastic. About half way to work on monday I stopped at an intersection and once it got to idel there was that horrid whirring sound back. It's only at around the 950-1000rpm mark.. Damn it!

The timing belt was changed about 8-900 km's ago. The Idler and tensioner were changed too. There has always been a little bit of noise since it was done by a workshop but it was only intermitent and I thought I'd leave it to see if it settled. I had a new ex cam gear put on and I am wondering whether it would help to put a better inlet cam on, maybe mine is worn a little too much?

I had wondered about the spring as that wasn't changed with the belt. The belt is making a sound as if there is too much tension so I thought that the spring should be fine.

As far as the plugs are concerned, I know it won't alter the noise I meant that the service manual says to remove the plugs before altering the tension for the RB20 and RB26. It doesn't say to do it for the RB25 though. I wondered whether it had not been properly translated or accidentally left out or something.

I am thinking about getting a new belt and seeing if that changes anything.

Edited October 23, 2007 by Fry_33

[made_guy]

no worries - ah i see what you mean about the plugs. yeah i don't think it will make a difference - hasn't for me.

if you've got a gtst like it says in your sig, you can change to a 'adjustable' inlet cam gear if that's what you're suggesting - there's oil that feeds the original one for the variable cam timing thing the factory one does. i think the only way to change to an adjustable is to block the oil feeds first....you probably don't want to do that.

what sort of belt did you get fitted by the way? the reason the spring can affect it is it might not apply the correct pressure to tension the belt while you're cranking the engine while the tensioner is not tightened.

[made_guy]

Approx how long does it take to replace the timing belt + tensioner bearing + water pump on an Rb26?

Well i'd allow 4-6 hours depending on experience. Plus remember you will want to give another maybe 24hours for any gasket maker you use for the new water pump to cure before running water through it.

Mine took a lot longer because

a) i had nooooo experience

b) i did cam and crank seals, water pump and replaced ex cam gear at the same time

c) i didn't have all the necessary tools to start with

d) i snapped a thread and broke a few tools in the process

Would i do it again.....? welll yeah! now i know what i'm doing!!! sort of.

[benm]

I plan on taking my car to my mechanics but doing as much work as i can on it there whilst he is working on other cars (removing radiatior/fan/belts/etc) any of the easy but boring stuff - for him as im sure with him over my shoulder it won't be hard to do the majority of it. (and save on labour)

[Fry_33]

I had a Gates Racing Belt fitted.. I know people are going to say that they're all noisy but that is just not the case. People who have had a noisy belt usually retension it and it's fine. Gates have only ever had about 4 complaints about these belts out of the hundreds they have sold and none of them were related to noise. I am thinking of grabbing a standard construction belt, chucking it on and seeing what happens.

I don't want to lose the VCT on the inlet side so I want to stick to the standard cam arrangement. I was thinking of getting a standard one that didn't look as worn.

[made_guy]

I had a Gates Racing Belt fitted.. I know people are going to say that they're all noisy but that is just not the case. People who have had a noisy belt usually retension it and it's fine. Gates have only ever had about 4 complaints about these belts out of the hundreds they have sold and none of them were related to noise. I am thinking of grabbing a standard construction belt, chucking it on and seeing what happens.

I don't want to lose the VCT on the inlet side so I want to stick to the standard cam arrangement. I was thinking of getting a standard one that didn't look as worn.

ahh now i get it. they're hard to come by, i had to buy one recently - there's one floating around on here for about $70? i have the outside gear (the teeth part) you can have if you want to just replace that bit.

[Fry_33]

ahh now i get it. they're hard to come by, i had to buy one recently - there's one floating around on here for about $70? i have the outside gear (the teeth part) you can have if you want to just replace that bit.

It's ok now, thanks for the offer though. I have put a new standard Gates timing (T1040) belt on. I could have gone another racing one but I thought i'd just try this first without mucking around with the cam gears. So far, so good, as it's all quiet. It may have just been a noisy belt for some reason..

I put the new Gates Racing radiator hoses on while I was at it too. So I'm happy for now.

[Birth]

For quick retentioning maybe it is easier to use a hole saw to cut a hole where the tensioner is, then cover the hole with a rubber bung. This way all the dirt etc. is still kept out, but you now have easier access to the tensioner. Just a thought to round out a relatively old thread.

[GeeTR]

Good idea