Hallo.About a month ago I changed my timing belt. First time ever doing it. I drive a 99 civic Si with a B16A2, four cylinder, yes it is interference.The car starts but I don't think it's running very well. I haven't had a chance to look at my work since doing the fix.I don't think my car is misfiring, but it does seem to run poorer and the engine bay smells like a lawn mower now. If I turn the fans on, it smells like exhaust after a while. My friend said it smells and sounds like an exhaust leak, but idk I never touched the exhaust so.Any help is appreciated.Here's what it looked like post change about a month ago:https://youtube.com/shorts/H5VLVYbQw2c
Did you seal the valve cover properly?
>>27605257Funny that you mention that. No, it is not sealed properly. I didn't replace the gasket, and actually snapped off one of the valve cover bolts (not a head bolt). I used a bunch of red RTV in lieu of a new gasket because I am poor. Yes I know this is a wrenchlet fix, it is temporary.I still doubt this would cause any major leaks as all other 7 bolts are on as tight as they can be. But yes ONE of them is not.
>>27605264It could be that it's loose somewhere causing a vacuum leak. You'd probably see oil seeping out though. Did you maybe forget to put the PCV hose back on? That would be simple.My only other thought is the obvious one, maybe you turned one of the cams during the install and the timing is off as a result?
>>27605291Could be a vacuum leak...I went ahead and just bought a new gasket, spark plugs, and a chinese low profile valve cover bolt kit. Only gonna use the one bolt, rest will be stock.I never disconnected the PCV hose, that's the one attached to the valve cover right? Yeah, I couldn't get it off so I just draped the valve cover backwards. If it were damaged, it'd probably be from bending it so sharply, with it being old. Seems like a cheap fix though, is there a way to test for that?>turned one of the cams during the installThey looked TDC when I put the belt back on, but that's what I'll check when I take the cover off. If the cams were off by even a few teeth the car would not start, so there's that. I originally used one of those cam lock gears but I think I bent the center rod that was aligning it a bit trying to get the pulley bolt off. Cams should be fine though. Like I said if something were majorly wrong, the car wouldn't start lol.
>>27605291Oh, I also need a new tensioner spring. The timing belt was tensioned by me with a crowbar. It doesn't really howl and you can see in the image it's relatively tight. But I might buy a new tensioner bolt and spring since that's supposed to tension it automagically for me.
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