OT: 1992 US honda civic belt question

[ryan roopnarine]

you all are so much better than other boards at answering these questions. i loathe the idea of posting on a forum for this particular car and having a bunch of go-fast goofballs give me questionable info.

the car in question is a 1992 honda civic, plain jane 16valve motor that came in most of these cars. three or four nights ago, my friend's friend called us, and said that she had lost steering. upon examining the thing, we saw that a PS pump belt had derailed, and that the alternator belt appeared to be off one tooth, and rubbing on the timing belt case. after much gnashing of teeth in the rain, we saw that the crank pulley bolt was loose, and that there was a big old hole along the alternator belt path, that we figured was a broken off tensioner. we tell her to get it towed to a mechanic, as there was nothing we could do in the middle of the night to get a tensioner back on there.

fast forward to the next day. the mechanic tells her that a harmonic balancer pin had fallen out, and basically charges her $125 to put it back in and put the belts back on. my friend, however, observes that the alternator belt still appears to be rubbing on the timing case. i also observed that the last person to touch the timing belt has left the case so lose that i could separate it from the block with my fingernail (there's also a big old patch of grime where the separation is). my question is: is the alternator belt supposed to run that close to the timing case that it looks like it is rubbing? we both know that it is rubbing right now, and it looks as though there is supposed to be some kind of deflection pulley to keep it from doing this. thanks in advance.

[whiskychaser]

Owned a '92 Concerto for many years. It had the 16V single cam engine. There was no alternator tensioner pulley on that. There was just a slotted bracket at the top and a pivot at the bottom. You slackened both, levered the alternator away from the block and locked it down again. The crank bolt is VERY tight on those motors. I dont know what a harmonic balancer pin is but can tell you the belt shouldnt be rubbing on the cam belt cover. There wasnt a manual for Concerto in the UK. But I still have the one for the Rover 214/216 I used to use if you need any info

[Bill R.]

Ryan, it shouldn't be that close. There is a rubber oring type seal that snaps into a groove on the timing belt tensioner bolt that stick out of the center of the cover. That oring helps to keep the cover pulled in. Check and see if it has one.
Also if they have had oil leaks for any length of time, Crank seal, cam seal or valve cover dripping down onto the cover, the cover will distort after a long exposure to oil which can make it rub like you see. Or the mechanic didn't get the cover installed correctly.

[ryan roopnarine]

thanks bill, knew that something was wrong, but did not know that the case could distend that easily. I will take a look at it the next time i have an occasion to go over to this person's house.