Hooray, as I have my first cam assembly and belt job all competed by myself and not a mechanic!

But, of course the battery was dead as a doornail...

Anyway, I jump the car and aside from the smoke from all the oil mess, I have significant belt whine. Whish I had the blower is sounds like on there!

So, doing my research, I'm assuming that my balance belts are too loose. I was able to twist them the 90*, but looking some more that seems to be too tight. When I took things apart, they REALLY looked loose, I guess they might of been OK. On top of that, I missed the note that the roller should be close but not touching.

My question... can I drive it like this safely for a week before I recheck the tension next weekend as I prep for Watkins Glen? Or, hell no I'd be asking for a ton a trouble?

Thanks,

 

Im not sure exactly.. but i think the balance belt is supposed to be pretty loose.. atleast more loose then you think it is.. I took the cover off once and saw the belt and couldnt believe how loose it was.. I swore it wasnt supposed to be like that.. but after some research I confirmed thats just how it is.

Someone correct me if Im wrong..

Cant really answer your question though. other then if it is wrong and the balance belt fails chances are its taking the timing belt with it..

-keith

 

^^
What he said.

 

Are you sure it's the balance belt? If the battery's dead, could it be the alternator belt?

 

Join the club. Make sure you turned the cam belt tensioner the right direction.

 

I wouldn't tempt it if you think it's the balance shaft.

But I would have to agree that it could be the alternator/AC belt. Might want to tighten that up first to verify. Have someone start the car and run it for a minute while you listen from the front.

 

i have the same belt whine after a recent job, and because of my incident i had the first time... ahem... i think if anything its because it is too tight, but the kricket showed multiple readings of what it is supposed to be... so who knows :/ i have driven it this way and you sould be fine

 

I too am in the "whine" club. I did the belts in the NA and since it is a singer. I too was surprised how loose they were upon dissasembly. I always questioned the readings on the cricket, especially when used on a ribbed belt. She's on the lift now for a re-tension with the Arnworx tool. I think I'll let the local wrench for hire look at it to give me some peace of mind.

 

that means its alittle tight and you need new rollers. Erins 924s used to whine every time i would tension them until the belt stretched alittle, but since i put new rollers on it, no noise.

 

Well, I did the rollers at the same time, so I'm gonna go on a limb and say those are A OK.

I know the tension in the balance shaft belt is higher than it was when I took it apart, the old one just looked floppy in there! I guess that is nearly correct? But I do recall some belt whine when they were last done years ago that subsided.

Admittedly, things were kinda rushed yesterday as my second set of hands was departing shortly. I KNOW that the roller is indeed touching the belt as I missed the .5-1mm gap memo. I did this one as loose as I would be comfortable and the kricket read kinda ok, so i went with it. D'oh, my bad. Gonna work on it tonight when I get home as I gotta get some miles on it before the track days.

And a special announcement, I just KNOW I have 10 more hp now cause it looks soooo good with the red cam assembly and brushed out porsche letters!

Further questions then:

Could someone let me know which direction the tensioners are supposed to be tensioned/spun? I'm using the kricket tool and am aware of it's inherent complications, but didn't get that note.

Also, when doing the tensioning, I seem to be able to get the belts tight enough with just the force of my hand twisting on the roller... this came as quite a surprise when initially fineageling a wrench in there to adjust by force. Do I have superhuman hands or have others noticed this too? (or does this mean I have other problems brewing)

And finally, I do have the updated waterpump with guard in there, it seems to be turning just fine (with some resistance)... but no timing belt roller. I got a replacement roller with my package from paragon, but I don't even have the bolt to put it in! Is this roller optional when the pump is updated? Should I be looking for a bolt for that thing? Any idea on the size and where to get?

And anything else I might have missed?!

Again, thanks guys.

 

If you use a off-brand belt( not a conti-tech), like the Fleanor belt that Vertex sells, they will whine like crazy. I used them only twice, and never again. The other reason, one of the belts is too tight. The balance shaft belt is suppose to be a lot looser than the timing belt, maybe twice as loose.

 

You can run without the balance belt to confirm it. Then reinstall turning anti-clockwise on the tensioner. Yes you need the timing idler roller on the water pump, no options in there.

 

Tension is too high. If the timing belt is too tight, it will wear out your waterpump bearing prematurely and a ceased waterpump means broken timing belt and bent valves but at least worn out tensioner bearings. The most common whine is from the balance belt roller that should be .8mm from the belt and not touching. If its touching, it will whine and wear out prematurely as its not meant to spin all the time. That can in turn take out the balance belt over time and send pieces into the timing belt with possible result of broken teeths of timing belt/bent valves.

Don't wait to "retention it. If there is a whine, the rollers are worn or its tensioned improperly as Dan said. A properly installed belt should have VERY LITTLE (with slightly worn rollers) or NO WHINE (with new rollers).

 

Another thought- the smooth balance shaft belt idler should not touch the belt. If it does, it will whine something fierce. I set mine with about 1 mm clearance and so far so good.
Bill

 

Oops, never mind. You mentioned it in the original post.