Or do you have to do some fine tuning once the new timing belt is in place?

I put a new timing belt on my f22b1 '97 EX Accord. Everything feels "firmer" in the engine area, but the car is driving worse than when I had the old, 166k mile original belt on.

I replaced the belt with a Genuine Honda belt. I lined up all the lines on the cam shaft and crankshaft for the timing belt; the front balancer, rear balancer, and crank shaft for the balancer belt. But the engine is performing like crap!

Is there more to it than just putting on new belts?

As for tension, I did make sure the belt wasn't loose. The only sides that were loose on both the balancer and timing belts were the sides which the tensioner was going to tighten.

I don't know what I could've done wrong.

 

Are you sure you have the camshaft perfectly lined up with the crank? You could be a tooth off on the cam gear, and it may still look like it's lined up right. How tight is the belt? You want it tight, but you also want to maintain about 1/2" of deflection.

 

i will know tomorrow.

my buddy was lining up the camshaft while I had the crankshaft in position.

he knew that it couldn't be at a 12:00 position b/c of the angle of the engine. He said he was using many points of reference to get the cam sprocket lined up like the valve cover line, oil cover, etc.

i'll know more tomorrow.

somebody also said something about adjusting the timing at the distributor. this is also know as "ignition timing", right?

 

Yes, you'll need a timing light to do it right. I HIGHLY recommend you do this after the install is complete.

 

IIRC, you'll have to readjust the belt tension after a hundred miles or so.