Can someone explain how the tensioner works?

[bbuckl]

Gents,

I have been reading posts here all afternoon, but I still can't wrap my head around the timing belt tensioner. I have everything loosened (the tensioner bolt and the tensioner pulley bolt) but it still barely moves. Where do I have to pry to get this thing to loosen enough to take the belt off??

I an in the middle of an engine/gearbox refresh, so I am changing the timing belt, tensioner and all of the front seals.

This is driving me nuts?

Thanks,
Brian
79 2000

[81SPIDERMATT]

it doesn't move far ...and it does not have to for the belt to slide off .... the tensioner pulley pivots off of a bolt below ... the spring that puts tension on it is behind the pulley ... and the bolt thru the pulley holds it in place .... loosen bolt that goes thru the pulley... loosen the bolt that it pivots off of .... pry pulley away from belt and hold with pry bar and at the same time tighten bolt thru pulley to hold it off of belt.... if you were to pull the bolt completely out of pulley you would see that the hole is much bigger than the bolt allowing movement of the pulley .... I will try and find a pic for you

[81SPIDERMATT]

here you go

http://fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php ... re#p104132

[bbuckl]

Matt,

I have the pivot bolt loose about 3/4 of a turn and I have the tensioner loose (the nut holding the 3 washers keeping the pulley in place). So where do I place the pry bar? Between the pulley and the belt?

Why am I not getting this?? I'm sure I am going to kick myself in the butt for being so dimwitted when the Light Bulb finally goes on...

Thanks again,
Brian

[4uall]

This might help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoNAsPHiulY

[81SPIDERMATT]

ok that thread that I copied and pasted for you .... go look at the pics .... first pic you will see what I am talking about .... scroll further down and you will see a pic of that triangle piece of metal with the three holes in it on his work bench .... one hole is the pivot point ... one hole is the bolt hole that goes thru the bearing and one hole is where the spring goes thru that triangle ... see what I mean .... push on that part of the triangle if you can get to it.... if not then yes push on the pulley ... don't think you have to get the pry bar between pulley and belt just push them both to loosen tension on the spring .... tighten bolt thru pulley while holding in place and remove pry bar ... belt should now slide off... like I said it doesn't move much ... maybe 1/2 inch .... you wanna push it towards the passenger side of the car

[focodave]

Does this help illustrate it? (blue pry bar is not drawn to scale -- actual pry bar needs to be longer than what I have drawn)
Push green handle toward passenger side of car to loosen tension on the belt. Tighten the pivot bolt to hold the assembly in that position while you remove the old belt and position the new belt in place.
Loosen pivot bolt after new belt is installed. Spring will pull the assembly into the proper tensioned position. Tighten pivot bolt when assembly is in the tensioned position. Let the spring do all of the tensioning by itself. Do not apply extra force. The spring is designed to put the proper amount of tension on the belt, with no extra force applied.

[rebar1111]

Dumb question from me. Can the two cam pulleys be mistakenly interchanged? Would that cause the marks to be at 11 and 1 oclock rather than 1 and 11 oclock? How do I tell if my pulleys are on the correct cam?

[81SPIDERMATT]

Dumb question from me. Can the two cam pulleys be mistakenly interchanged? Would that cause the marks to be at 11 and 1 oclock rather than 1 and 11 oclock? How do I tell if my pulleys are on the correct cam?

that is a good question .... I think I remember reading that the exhaust cam is the same as the auxillary cam and the intake cam is different ....

I marked mine when I did the job and the engine never moved ... so it was not a thought of mine that they could be mixed up .... curious what answers will be

[So Cal Mark]

the cam sprockets can be interchanged and the timing marks will be off. If your pulleys have guards on them, the intake guard should be on the rear and the exhaust guard on the front

[azruss]

the exhaust cam and intake cam are indeed different. dont know about the aux cam. I have a picture of the 2 sitting side by side if anyone needs it.

[garion]

I found that an old drum brake tool makes an excellent pry bar for the tensioner... Here's a pic I posted a while ago:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... 77#p162902

[Curly]

This is probably not the sanctioned way of releasing tension on the idler, but after loosening off the centre nut and pivot bolt, I use a pair of vice grips clamped onto the spring near where it enters the hole in the bearing carrier and just pull the spring out out of the hole . Once the new belt is fitted up you need two hands on the vice grips to stretch the spring up and into the hole again. Rotate the engine by hand for 2 or 3 revolutions to make sure everything is seated properly, then lock up the centre nut and pivot bolt .

[bbuckl]

Guys,

Thanks! I was able to get the belt off today with little fuss. This tensioner system seems a little odd, but it seems to work so who so am I to argue?

The main seal looks like its blown. There is a wonderful layer of oil and muck coating the front of the block. Luckily for me, the oil has prevented anything from rusting. Every fastener come loose with no problem!

I removed all of the pulleys. The cam seals look dry and brand new, while the main and aux shaft seals look shot.

I'd love to clean the block today, but my son has indoor soccer. Maybe tonight if the game is a blowout...

Brian

[bbuckl]

here is the mess...
[imghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/43005797@N04/12271097335/][/img]

and another...
[imghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/43005797@N04/12271097365/][/img]

Looks like I gots some cleanin to do!