gas mileage???

ok i have posted in the past about my speedo not working but now its working and its stating that im getting 20mpg or 100 milles to half a tank so im wondering why but i do know that i did replace my harmonic balancer and i did try taking it off with a socket wrench was that my grave mistake maybe causing the crank to turn and the cam not to which means my timing belt slipped when i was trying to take it off by hand which offset my timing?? i just need a second opinion before i go taking off my balancer and resetting the timing belt and what is this i heard about setting the cam back three teeth when tightening the tensioner this is the first ive heard of it can someone please explain why setting the cam back is neccessary :confused:

The crank turns the cam via the belt...unless the belt was stripped, you couldn't reclock the cam timing by turning the crank...

When you apply tension to the belt with the tensioner, it rotates everything the belt runs around slightly...when you push inward on one side, everything it runs around wants to rotate in that direction until the tension is equalized on both sides of the belt...

That's why you are supposed to rotate the motor through a few full revolutions after tensioning the belt, then bring the crank to TDC and recheck the marks, this equalizes the tension around the whole belt, you don't know if the marks are dead on or not until doing this...many times they will be off slightly...

First I've heard of doing it by deliberately retarding the cam's position before tightening, but since everything the belt runs around rotates a bit with tensioning, your cam might end up right after tensioning, but the balancer shaft(s) may be off...

You can't determine mileage with any accuracy by calculating partial tankfuls...fuel gauges are just not that accurate.

You have to fill it, drive it 100 miles or more, fill it again, and divide the miles driven by the fuel put in the second fill...

20 mpg for 100 miles would only be 5 gallons, much less than half your tank...regardless of what the gauge says. My 1995 LX holds 17 gal empty...

After new installation of the belts you rotate the entire engine (WITH TENSIONERS OFF) by hand like jeffco mentioned to sit everyting right. After verifying all timing marks you rotate your engine back three teth to tension the belt. Tighten the tensioners and you are all set.

Sam

but i felt like a click click click in the balancer when i tried to take the old balancer off is it possible that the compression of the pistons kept the cam from moving and allowed the main crank to move because i used to get about 160mpg on half though so i dont want to go and take everything off if its not the problem the way it felt was like when you use a torque bar to torque head bolts well you know when the torque is reached by the slipping action it wont let you torque any more right thats exactly how it felt

If your belt is really worn, or the tensioners aren't set correctly, it's possible you felt it slipping/stripping off a few cogs...normally it wouldn't happen from just jerking the crank around if everything is good...

After new installation of the belts you rotate the entire engine (WITH TENSIONERS OFF) by hand like jeffco mentioned to sit everyting right. After verifying all timing marks you rotate your engine back three teth to tension the belt. Tighten the tensioners and you are all set.

Sam

Ahhh...I see. that makes sense.:grinyes:

I still rotate it around a few turns once tensioned, to make sure everything still comes up on the marks...

If the timing belt is good and tensioned properly, you shouldn't be able to slip/strip cogs by jerking the crank...but if something is wrong it's very possible that's what happened...