Timing belt tensioner conversion.

[usman754]

Hi guys,
I Have 4th gen 2.2 si vtec. Timing belt is due. After getting quote from Honda I am confused with the tensioner now. £152+vat for the original hydraulic one .... Where else the conversion kit from H23 is apparently £99 including vat.
My question is: which one is better and long lasting please? My plan is to keep My car for good. So thinking of long term.
Also, what brand timing belt would you guys recommend? Genuine Honda? Or ? And do you guys know anything about this conversion? Has anyone done it?
Thank you.
Regards
Usman

[NafemanNathan]

For a stock or minor mod'd h22 stick with an auto tensioner. The manual ones are better suited to higher mod'd h22's as they are less likely to fail under more load, but they do require the slack being removed after a bed in period.

I'm sure you can get a genuine auto-tensioner for cheaper than that though.

And as far as belts go, most including myself suggest Gates. Much cheaper than genuine Honda and equal if not better performance.

[crxdriver]

I made my manual tensioner for free out of my auto tensioner. Cant remember exactly how i did it but it was easy enough and fast to do. I can remember i took it apart and used some threaded bar and some nuts. Was a few years ago now, i should have took some pictures. its still going good though. I checked on it when i replaced the crank pulley earlier this year.

[NafemanNathan]

It sort of ends up looking like this, but with an auto-tensioner's body...



Although you'd be better off with a dome head bolt like the one on the KaisenSpeed tensioner...



These retail for under £100 by the way.

[PerformanceAutoworks]

The original OEM Hydraulic tensioner is very much a fit and forget item, obviously self adjusts over the life of the belt (assuming correct initial fitment) and is certainly not as unreliable as the internet will have you believe. Although designed to be re-usable this is where the problems can come from, I always recommend replacement.
The cost of these new from Honda is £141.60 inc vat so I'm not sure where you are getting your "£152+vat" cost from?

As Nath said, the auto tensioner is plenty good enough for a stock motor but there is nothing wrong with converting to manual tensioner assuming you are happy for a scheduled tension re-check/adjust during the belt's life span.
For any H22 with more aggressive valvetrain/cams then yes a manual tensioner swap is essential.

I would not trust a tensioner setup with a bolt/locknut like Nath's second post and be VERY wary of cheap ebay copies of the KS tensioner, these have been tested and proven to have inferior quality steel adjuster with poor threads.

The KS manual tensioner is very much a decent bit of kit but I've not seen them retail for under £100... more like £150 inc vat

We do our own version, tried and tested.
PAW H22 Manual Tensioner - £90 inc vat (posted)
These use hardened steel inserts and correct profile dome head





Or of course you could convert to the H23 manual system but this does still require some modifying to prevent the timing belt being too tight.
These can be fiddly to install/set up correctly especially if balance shafts/belt is retained.
I generally use a significantly modified version of the H23 cambelt tensioner for BS deleted race cars just because it is then quite a clean and simple solution.

[NafemanNathan]

The KS manual tensioner is very much a decent bit of kit but I've not seen them retail for under £100... more like £150 inc vat

Pardon me, I got lucky with mine

[PerformanceAutoworks]

Haha I would say you did Nath !!

[usman754]

Thank you very much for the helpful replies guys. Really appreciated. Yes, I am getting new cams at the same time & I've got the answer that I should change it to manual tensioner. Much appreciated. Regards Usman