cambelt

[damianison]

recently I changed my cambelt as per another thread, ever since it has been making a funny noise. I have just taken the top timing cover off to have a look, and once you bring the revs up a little the belt starts fluttering on the drive side. tension seems to be ok, does anyone have any suggestions, it runs fine and the cam timing doesnt appear to be out.
thanks

[Stewart1000]

hrmm thats is a bit weird...

what do you mean by fluttering, can you describe it in a few words.

the first thing that comes to mind is tension but if you think you've got that spot on...
maybe, the gear isnt on tight enough, if that rings a bell, dont drive it, if that gear comes off your shafted.
did you remove any camshaft bearing caps? if you did, and didn't do it properly the camshaft might be shagged, if its that i wouldnt be running the motor either.

but first thing i'd be checking is the tensioner, its been a while since i did one but setting the spring tension was a bit of a pain so it might have slipped without you noticing, the belt might be tight but when the motor is running the tension is changing every time the camshaft opens a valve and shuts one.
check the tensioner mate

[damianison]

Hmmm yeah I cant think of anything else It could be, I replaced the water pump, front cam seal and tensioner at the same time as the belt. had a little trouble figuring out if I had the spring correct on the tensioner, I guess maybe I havnt. When I say fluttering it is flapping back and forwrds a little and getting a bit of a twist in it at the same time.
I guess Ill have to pull it apart again and have look see. Ill have to do it next week will let you know how I get on. This isnt the 1st belt ive ever done, but the 1st one of had trouble with. Ive had several odd faults with this car that have been unusual/ hard to solve. aNOTHER YET UNSOLVED ONE IS WHY IT SITS LOW ON THE DRIVERS SIDE (HALF AN INCH) CHANGED SPRINGS, MEASURED STRUTS - oh crap sorr bout caps lock- had the chassis checked but no answer. Local holden dealer pulled the front end apart trying to solve it as well. Next im going to try replacing the sway bar.

[jatsvl]

you said you had trouble putting this belt on, when you check your tensioner check you didn't strech the belt on one side (frnt/bak) it can be hard to get over the cam gear and some people have been known to use alot of FORCE! to get it on.

[Holdfast]

Hi

As you face or are looking the timing belt the right hand side should be nice and tight with no slack.

The left hand side where the tensioner is should have slack.

This an extract from the Max Ellery's VL Commodore publication on page 159.

Reinstall and Adjust

1. Ensure belt teeth and gear teeth are clean and free from oil or water.

2. Ensure that the crankshaft toothed gear timing mark is pointing to the notch on the oil pump housing, refer Fig 6A-42

3. If reusing belt, ensure belt rotation direction is maintained and fit belt to crankshaft and camshaft toothed gears. If using new belt, ensure arrows on the belt are pointing away from the engine.

4.Ensure valve timing is set as per Fig 6A-42

Note:
A new belt has two timing lines on the outside, one for aligning with the Camshaft gear aligning mark and another for the crankshaft toothed gear aligning mark.
If installing the original drive belt, and the two valve timing lines are no longer visible, count the number of grooves on the belt between the two toothed gear aligning marks. Refer Fig 6A-42 (Should be 53 grooves)





(Anyway, I'm not sure if the above helps but it sure does help to have a repair manual or as some of us do, have repair manuals.) The manuals not only save time but lots of money.

The above extract was from:
Max Ellery's Factory Workshop Manual 1986-1987 VL Commodore. ISBN: 064601854X Page 159