[FIXED] 2003 Hyundai Elantra Water Pump and Timing Belt Installation Aftermath

Hi All,

I recently completed my first water pump and timing belt installation on a 2003 Hyundai Elantra GLS. I'll give a brief description to get everyone up to speed, but for the full backstory for this car, check out the following topics:
P0335 DTC Causing No Start - www.scannerdanner.com/forum/post-your-re....html?start=30#14147
Hyundai Elantra Timing Belt - Alternator Reinstallation Issue - www.scannerdanner.com/forum/post-your-re...ion-issue.html#13614

So briefly, I chased a P0335 no start condition on a car back in April and May. I replaced both the Cam and Crankshaft position sensors to no avail. I discovered that I was experiencing a fuel delivery issue, and was able to diagnose that the fuel pump was bad. The water pump on this car was also leaking, so I simultaneously replaced the timing belt, water pump, and the three drive belts: alternator, power steering, and AC. I wasn't able to work on the car for about six months, fast forward to last weekend. I replaced the fuel pump assembly and voila, the car started for the first time in about six months.

I have two concerns. First, the car makes a weird noise when it starts. It only last the first few seconds on startup. I have a YouTube video of it here -
As you can see in the video, I left the upper timing cover off for now just to look at the belt. Not sure if that would block the noise if it was coming from the timing belt, I doubt it.

Second, when I first turned the car on, I got a huge cloud of white smoke coming from the tailpipe. In trying to diagnose the fuel delivery issue, I tried to run the car off carb cleaner. I never got it to run though, so I ended up spray a good bit of carb cleaner in the intake manifold. After a few minutes, it mostly cleared up. I have another YouTube video showing a small trace amount of smoke coming from the tailpipe. Not sure if this might just be water vapor as I can see some water dripping off the muffler. Here is the video -
Also noteworthy, I hooked up my scan tool while the car was running, and I observed the B1S2 oxygen sensor data was consistently low, which I thought was odd. I remember previously it stayed somewhere around .750V. Before all of this, the car did have a P0420. The car was only on for about five minutes, not sure if it needs to be on longer to get more reliable data. Thanks.

Screeching at start up is usually due to the alternator drive belt slipping, the load on the alternator is highest in the first 30 to 90 seconds after start up especially if the battery has been discharged or is starting to fail.

Sounds like power steering pump, to me. A long screw driver or extension, etc. Held behind your ear, on one end, and the other end used to touch various components, can help determine the source of a noise.

What's the ambient temperature around there? I'm thinking the smoke at the tailpipe is likely just water, and not actual smoke. Some smoke after sitting for awhile is not unusual. The downstream O2 may be because the O2 wasn't fully warmed up, or the catalyst wasn't yet lit off. Recheck it after a test drive? If it still sticks low after getting it good n' hot, then I'd say you're onto something.

I'm with pole71 about the noise. Is the fluid aerated? Or, does the noise get worse while spinning the steering wheel? The timing belt will make some noise on it's own.

Also, what ended up being the fix for the alternator bracket issue?

That noise you hear on startup is the timing belt being too tight. I have a 05 and mine made the same noise till I backed off the tension a bit and it went away. They don't need to be as tight as serp belts. All your looking to do is take the slack out of the belt.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the input. I worked on the car last night and came to the same conclusion as graywave. I started taking each belt off, one at a time. Finally the only thing left on it was the timing belt and it was still making the noise. I loosened the tension on the timing belt and the noise is gone. I am still have a bit of trouble getting the tension and adjustment quite right though. The timing belt is adjusted by manually pushing the tensioner counterclockwise into the timing belt with a hex key. When I had the belt on the first time, the timing belt had a tendency to walk towards the right of the car(away from the engine). After reading online that the noise was coming from an over tensioned timing belt, I pushed the tensioner forward with my hand instead of the hex key. Although the noise went away, now the timing belt is actually walking the opposite direction, to the left(towards the engine).

Does anyone have any advice on how to properly set the tension, also so that the belt doesn't walk. I read that the hole for the hex key should be at the "six o'clock" position for the proper tension. Both the tensioner and idler pulleys are brand new OEM parts from Hyundai. Even so I can still feel a little bit of slop in the tensioner pulley. It seems like the difference between using my hand verse the allen key pushes that slop one way or another causing the belt to walk one direction or the other. Does it take just a bit of trial and error to get it right? Thanks for the help.

Steve

Tyler,

There's a little room around the bolt holes so that the alternator bracket can be adjusted a little bit. Unfortunately, when I reinstalled the bracket, it was just slightly out of place. A posted a YouTube video.

Thanks.

Steve

I just wanted to mention that the belt walks while the car is running, in case that wasn't clear. I've been turning on the car for a few seconds to see if the noise is still there. It's not so bad that there's an issue when I turn the engine by hand to check the timing marks. Originally when it was walking away from the engine, the crankshaft pulley helped to hold it in place. During my troubleshooting I had the pulley off and started the car and belt moved almost half an inch in just a few seconds or so. Now as it walks toward the engine, there is a lip on the end of the tensioner that the belt is making contact with.

Is this the type of tensioner that your Hyundai uses?



If so, does it have that pointer that rotates while adjusting the belt tension? I'm not positive on the specifics, but usually, that pointer is supposed to sit right in between those two black brackets with the engine cold.

Not quite. It doesn't have the thing on the side. It just looks like a regular pulley.

As I mentioned earlier, the noise I was originally hearing was coming from the timing belt having too much tension on it. As far as the belt walking, I spoke with a few people and actually started a new thread, and came to the conclusion that a little bit of walk from side to side is okay. The belt is still completely on the camshaft sprocket. In other words, none of the part hangs over the sprocket in any way. It just isn't perfectly centered on the sprocket. Thanks everyone for your help.

Steve