Timing Belt Slaps! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

kamrhee · 09-23-2006, 04:00 PM

Hello everyone. As you all know, I inquired about the timing belt and water change in a different thread and managed to do it. However, upon putting together everything back, I have this scuffing sound at idle and goes away at 2K rpm or more. When I took the cover over and started the engine. I saw that the timing belt slaps the lower belt cover. I thought the idler pulley with spring must be loose. So I tightened this and covered everything again. Starting the engine, I could still hear a faint slap which means there is a slight slack of the timing belt. What do I do here? I heard of timing belt skipping a tooth. How do I remedy this? Is there a correct procedure to tighten the idler pulley with spring? Thats the only part I know that plays with the tension of the timing belt.

kamrhee

marc780 · 09-24-2006, 03:11 AM

kamrhee, if it starts and runs like it did before you changed the belt, your timing belt installation was fine. So what i would do would be to put some thick washers between the cover and engine (the t-belt cover bolt going thru the washer of course, you may need to buy bolts a little bit longer). And then make sure the belt is not rubbing any of the external belts, i.e. the PS belt and alternator belt. And then i would just seal the gap with silicone. Or use two or three t-belt cover gaskets if you like buying them for some reason.

trdcamry00 · 09-24-2006, 04:36 PM

i have the same exact problem you have. I changed my t-belt and wp and i get a noise that goes away at 2k and up. let me know if you find out the exact problem.

ghettosled · 09-24-2006, 11:14 PM

i had this problem as well. for me, it was as if the tensioner didnt give enough tension. i ended up give some extra pressure to take up more slack before i tightened the pulley in place. it worked like a charm.

kamrhee · 09-24-2006, 11:43 PM

Marc780,

The spacing within the cover is not the problem. I've removed the upper cover to notice that the timing belts slaps the lower one during idle. I guess the gap between the 2 idler pulley have enough slack to do this. I've read about timing belt skipping a tooth and that results to the slack. I could be wrong here. When I tightened the idler pulley with the spring, I could've sworn there was very little slack. Is there a tip to tighened this cause the spring alone is not enough to pull the slack out.

trdcamry00,

I'm glad that there is also another person experiencing this, not that I want you to have problems, but at least somebody knows what I'm talking about. Well see if we can get some suggestions.

kamrhee

***toyomoho*** · 09-25-2006, 03:55 PM

Some car owners have experienced slap after belt change. Suggest you apply a little pressure to the tensioner to take up the slack before tightening the bolt.

kamrhee · 09-25-2006, 10:17 PM

Ghettosled, toyomoho

Is there a right way or a "trick" to get enough of the slack out. I used my hand to pull the idler pulley before tightening it. I couldn't get more leverage.

I'd like to make it skip a tooth to even out the belt slack throughout but I'm afraid it might mess with the timing.

Thanks.

kamrhee

Digger1 · 11-03-2006, 10:47 PM

Kam,

Sorry I did not see your post earlier. Perhaps this will help:

Here is a trick to properly tension the timing belt on a 5S-FE engine (see signature block for specifics on my car):

As per the instructions in the FSM and Haynes manual, I positioned the crank at TDC and positioned the camshaft at the TDC position. However, when installing the belt, I could not get rid of some excess slack in the front of the belt (the part that runs forward from the top of the camshaft pulley to the waterpump pulley). I could not pull the belt any tighter, since the most I could pull it toward the camshaft pulley was only about half a tooth of belt length.

So, here is what I did to remedy the situation:

I pulled the belt back off of the camshaft pulley. Note that the tensioner pulley was temporarily fixed in the "loose" position, as per earlier instructions in the repair manuals. I then turned the crankshaft 5 degrees counterclockwise. It was now at 5 degrees BTDC. I then put the belt back on the camshaft pulley. The camshaft pulley was still at the TDC position.

I then rotated the crankshaft 5 degrees clockwise to TDC and checked my alignment. Voila! Spot on! The small rotation of the crankshaft had merely taken up slack in the timing belt and did not move the camshaft pulley. Just to be sure, I rotated the crank through 720 degrees and checked my alignment again. Spot on! Ever skeptical, I cranked 'er up (after setting the tensioner pulley as per the instructions) and ran the engine for a few minutes without the upper timing belt cover in place. I shut 'er down and checked the alignment again. Spot on!

Best of all, the forward portion of the timing belt was now properly tight.

94dsm · 11-04-2006, 02:29 PM

was it somewhat of a ticking sound? i just did a belt and pump and now i get that crappy noise, it annoys the hell out of me.

***ASG14*** · 11-04-2006, 02:43 PM

Hope you did not get a crappy aftermarket belt. I only use OEM Toyota parts. 70% of the time it;s the same price as aftermarket.

94dsm · 11-04-2006, 02:56 PM

well, i was in kind of a tight money situation at the time my water pump went and i had those autozone cards that if you have 5 you get a free 20 gift card so i had about 30 dollars, that went to the pump, the cards went to the belt....i always thought that oem was more expensive.

armrsm · 11-04-2006, 02:57 PM

After a timing belt has been placed on the pullys, crank the engine by the crank bolt clockwise with a wrench and this will remove all the slack to the tensioner. The tensioner pulley can then have some pressure applied to the belt, then tighten it down. V6 models have a spring tension sysem that tensions the belt automaticly.

kamrhee · 11-05-2006, 08:16 AM

Quote:

armrsm
After a timing belt has been placed on the pullys, crank the engine by the crank bolt clockwise with a wrench and this will remove all the slack to the tensioner. The tensioner pulley can then have some pressure applied to the belt, then tighten it down. V6 models have a spring tension sysem that tensions the belt automaticly.

Good tip. I could have use this when I was doing the belt last time. Maybe on the V6 next time.

kamrhee

blueapple · 07-13-2007, 01:27 PM

I have very similar issue, except mine also made this electronic motor like noise. I went to the dealer and bought the new spring, supposedly revised to eliminate slapping, Spent an hour putting it on, it was gone for about 1 week, and now it's back again, together with the electric motor noise which never went away.....
Don't know, I'm starting to suspect those GMB tensioners I used, the belt was OEM. Also if I stick my noise near the timing belt cover after driving the car, it seems to have this smell, not too sure what it is, almost like burning rubber. It was there ever since I changed out the belt 2000 miles ago. I did not notice any wear on the belt face however, when I changed out the spring, the lettering was still clear.