recently finished a job replacing the timing belt on a 98 accord lx sedan.


check out the lower left corner of this pic.. the tensioner assembly.

there are two tensioners that ride on the same bolt. one is for the timing belt, the other is for the balance shaft timing belt. now.. when i took this apart i remember the bolt being very tight. so when i reinstalled it- i made it tight too. what gets to me: when this bolt is tight- the tensioners become clamped down. how do they do their job if they are held in place like that?? also note that i had to apply tension to the tensioners before tightening the bolt down all the way to keep the timing belt tense (not too tight tho, dont worry)

theres is also another bolt that acts as an anchor (E-13 on pic) on a fulcrum (13).. this bolt was also tight- again- locking the fulcrum in place.. wtf!? there are 2 tiny springs in this mechanism that are useless against the force of the bolts.

i hope i was right to tighten these two bolts down. the car starts and runs fine... but im still woried! any advice?