24 year old timing belt as new

Hi. I just stripped my bike down to the bare bones to change my 24 year old timing belt, I found it quite easy with all the plastic off. The bike only has 23000 on it but had been parked up for 13 years. It looks fine no sign of wear at all, but as I'm down this far I'm going to change it.
Just ordered the gates belt to replace it with, it's a bit cheaper than the Honda.
only problem I had stripping it all down was with the bolt that holds the cam plate on
I could not get my socket on it as there was not enough room between the bolt and the frame. I managed to get it off after quite a bit of effort. I am a bit concerned about how I'm going to get the torque wrench in to tighten it up again.
any one else had this problem? If so how did you over come it. I feel it was good experience stripping it down, top and bottom hoses seemed fine, can't see any signs of leaks as yet. I take it I slacken the tensioner to remove the belt and release it when the new belt is in place after all marks are matched up?

Lawrence2941 said:

...only problem I had stripping it all down was with the bolt that holds the cam plate on
I could not get my socket on it as there was not enough room between the bolt and the frame.

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What size of ratchet-kit/torque-wrench are you using?

No problems with a 1/4" set... BTW: only 27Nm (19.9 ft-lb) on that bolt; if it doubts: one small drop (like a pinhead) of medium thread-lock, gives peace of mind...

Ended up with a 1/4 set I borrowed from my son to get it off, That worked fine. Wasn't sure if you could get a 1/4 torque wrench but that's good to hear . Must go on the hunt and see we're I can borrow one of them lol
many thanks

Lawrence2941 said:

Wasn't sure if you could get a 1/4 torque wrench but that's good to hear.

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Got me one from the bicycle/MTB department, for all that small, delicate stuff on the ST... ;-)

I rarely torque anything besides head and exhaust bolts, I've never had a problem. But that's just me

Yea I'm not going to get to excited if I don't toque it as st1100y said a drop of lock tight will make sure it stays put. Good to know Ballymena is on the map lol

I don't remember having any problems getting the left Driven Pulley Guide bolt out or torqued.

Follow the final belt tensioning procedure in the Honda Service Manual exactly. Once that's done properly with the crankshaft turned clockwise 3 teeth further/past the alignment marks before tightening the tensioner bolt, the belt basically runs fixed without further/constant pressure.

Tip: before removing the old belt, count the number belt teeth between the marks on the driven pulleys, and duplicate that on the new belt. Your index lines will match up perfectly, truST me. This can (has) save(d) a lot frustration for others.
http://www.st-riders.net/coppermine/displayimage.php?pid=849&fullsize=1

John [about to do his 2nd belt and 1st water pump]
via iPhone 4S

Yea John that three teeth past the timing mark how does that work? Does it not put the timing off slightly or is it because all shafts are moving as one does it even do anything ? A bit confused at that one.

How did you end up across the pond?

Good to know Ballymena is on the map lol[/QUOTE]

I met a Ballymena man on a Yamaha super Tenere in Donegal town last monday when I was up that way

I'm just a blow in to Ballymena although I've been here 35 years. Still a Belfast man at heart lol

Lawrence2941 said:

Yea John that three teeth past the timing mark how does that work? Does it not put the timing off slightly or is it because all shafts are moving as one does it even do anything ? A bit confused at that one.

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Lawrence, here's what I believe, based on a trusted opinion by my friend, Tim Shevlin, STOC 1183:

Rotating the crank pulley a few teeth (in the direction it moves in normal operation) tightens/takes all the slack out of the belt between the crank pulley, water pump, left driven pulley, idler pulley, and right driven pulley (the "driven" part of the belt's run); thereby, leaving any possible remaining slack between the right driven pulley and the crank pulley. This slack is then taken up/out with the tensioner, slack which might not have been fully removed otherwise, causing the belt to run loose. The tensioner's spring alone is insufficient to tighten the belt fully throughout its run. Note the tensioner is then fixed for good. After a run-in, the belt probably doesn't have any actual tension applied to it, but runs with no slack for the rest of its life. Unlike a cam chain equipped engine, the ST1100 engine's driven cam (timing) belt system is designed to not apply constant tension, just initial tension to a new belt. HTH

BTW, the timing belt tooth count between the driven pulleys' index marks on mine was: 51 (as shown in the linked picture above)

John

John OoSTerhuis said:

Rotating the crank pulley a few teeth (in the direction it moves in normal operation) tightens/takes all the slack out of the belt between the crank pulley, water pump, left driven pulley, idler pulley, and right driven pulley (the "driven" part of the belt's run).

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Since I have the spark plugs out anyway, I give the engine a full rotation (till T-belt marks match again) for the same purpose, plus confirming that the timing marks are correct with the new belt in...

ST1100Y said:

Since I have the spark plugs out anyway, I give the engine a full rotation (till T-belt marks match again) for the same purpose, plus confirming that the timing marks are correct with the new belt in...

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Martin, the manual already calls for that (last step before turning the crankshaft the 3 right driven pulley teeth further):
"Turn the crankshaft clockwise 2 to 4 full turns, and align the T1 Mark with the Index Mark. (The Index Lines on the driven pulleys must align with the Index Marks.)"

edit: it's at this point that many folks that didn't count the teeth between the driven pulleys find themselves off a tooth (or maybe even two) at the right driven pulley index/mark.

An additional thought: by turning past the point that all the indexes/marks align, the cam lobes are getting resistance from the valve springs, insuring the driven portion of the belt is tensioned/tight. IINM

John

Many Thanks John, good to hear someone who clearly knows what he's talking about.

ST1100Y said:

Since I have the spark plugs out anyway, I give the engine a full rotation (till T-belt marks match again) for the same purpose, plus confirming that the timing marks are correct with the new belt in...

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+1 - Makes perfect sense to me. Everything should align-up the same as with the old belt.

Doesn't take a magician to replacement / alignment a timing belt. If I can do it, shouldn't be a problem for others, either. I just replaced mine yesterday. Had the old belt off for a good inspection about 30K miles ago , too. Takes some "futzsing" around for a few minutes to get everything aligned properly, but not that frustrating of a job , if patient.

Old ( original belt - made in Japan, new Gates belt made in the UK, BTW ) belt still looked new when I removed it yesterday @ 76K miles. But now, I have peace of mind until I install a rebuilt water pump at 100K miles.

Can never do too much PM , IMHO. I don't want to be stranded miles from home & need a tow to the nearest dealer ( $$$ + $$$ ). Planned Preventative Maintenance is preferred in my book.