Question about a F22a Timing belt / balancer belt.

[Damien Hill]

Hi Guys…
I have a Honda Accord with a F22a (SOHC) 2.2L Engine. I don’t have any problem with my car, however I just want to pick a few peoples minds about the timing belt. When I changed my Timing belt I did a perfect job, correctly tensioned it, had all the marks lined up.. everything sweet. However, I did notice when I was driving, when you take off it sounds like a supercharger under there… I figured it must be something to do with the belts? as I recently took everything off as I did the waterpump and tensioners and re-tensioned the timing belt to the way the ‘Haynes’ Manual explained, which was.. ‘turn the engine three teeth counter clockwise then lock the adjusting nut and return the engine to TDC. I did this and it seemed ok. My question is… Are my belts too tight? if so would it be the timing belt making this noise? or the balancer.

Would really appreciate you input.

Thanks

Topic

[Daniel]

It’s probably not the timing belt. I hear “v-belts” make that noise all the time. Usually the noise is caused by a very slightly out of alignment pulley or just a worn belt.

[Damien Hill]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah I wondered about those, but couldn’t quite tell if that would cause that. I recently put new V belts on, and that when it sort of started. Maybe they are too tight? Should I just loosen them a bit and see what happens?

Cheers

[toyodagreg]

check the tension of the belts. or even better. take the belts off, start the car and see if the noise is gone. You can check the belts by twisting them. they should not twist more than 90 degrees in the longest spot.

[Daniel]

Might be a good idea to loosen them a bit. The best way to do it is with a straight edge and a ruler. You lay the straight edge across two pulleys that share the same belt, then press down on the belt with reasonable force with the ruler and measure the distance the belt moves. I’m not sure what the recommended belt deflection is for your car but you should be able to find that info on the internet.
While you have the straight edge you can use it to check the alignment of the pulleys. Just put the edge of the straight edge across the pulleys. It should rest flush against the face of the pulleys. Turn the pulley to confirm that it is not a warped pulley. If any of them are out of alignment you can try using shims or loosen the bolts and torque down the bolts on, say, the left side of the part if the left side of the pulley is sticking out farther.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Based on your description I would say that you have the timing belt too tight. As suggested however remove the drive belts and start the engine to see if the noise is still there. If it is then you can reasonably conclude it’s the timing belt that’s the issue. I have a different procedure for putting tension on the belts, it’s similar to what you see in this video even though it’s on a different engine.

[Author]

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