The behavior of belt tension in OHC drive timing belt system was investigated analytically and experimentally for (1)fixed and (2)automatic tensioner. From the numerical results it was found that the automatic tensioner makes the belt tension larger than those of the fixed tensioner. When the initial belt tension decreased due to the belt elongation, the belt tension of the fixed tensioner could decrease to near zero while the belt tension for the automatic tensioner maintained above zero by the tensioner spring. The mean valve and the difference between the maximum and the minimum belt tension for the automatic tensioner increased compared with those of the fixed tensioner. Also, the numerical results for a hydraulic tensioner showed that the hydraulic tensioner has the good parts of both tensioners; i.e., thesmaller amplitude in belt tension and the higher mean tension. Experimental results for the automatic and fixed tensioner of the OHC timing belt system were in agreement with the theoretical results.