Why is the timing belt loose on my 98 honda civic?

How to tighten up timing belt tensiner on 98 honda civic?

• Answer:

  Remove the upper timing belt cover so you can see what you are doing. There should be a plug in the lower timing belt cover, covering a hole you can fit a socket through (I don't recall the socket size) to access the tensioner hold-down. With the engine off, loosen the bolt that secures the tensioner and pull the crankshaft through counterclockwise (don't go clockwise at all or the belt will jump for sure with that bolt loose) three teeth on the cam sprocket. Watch for the belt trying to ride up as this is done. Retighten the tensioner bolt to 33 ft-lbs and verify the timing belt behaves itself as the crankshaft is pulled CCW through a couple of compression strokes. Reinstall the upper timing belt cover and the hole plug. In theory you should retorque the crank bolt after turning the crankshaft CCW with it, but if the bolt is anywhere near loosening that way it needed to be retorqued for sure.