Hey all,

Some of you may have read my post earlier about my cam and spring/retainer install. all went well and was actually very easy to do.

My car has been standing for about 2 weeks (ecu was mailed to works for the flash) and now when I came to do my cam install, on removing the cam pully cover I noticed the cam belt to be very loose (moves 15-20mm vertically between the cams). this seems VERY loose to me.

Just one question now?

I was wondering if the hydralic auto tensioner for the belt (the one you need the threaded tool to release the pressure) uses engine oil pressure to hold the piston in the tensioner up and thus the tension on the belt, or is it a self contained system, seperate fron the engine oil pressure system.

If it is a self contained unit it means the tensioner pulley was not set to the correct tension to start off with, so the piston has run out of usable movement to maintain the tension in the auto tensioner.

If it does use engine oil pressure to hold the piston up in the tensioner, how would you recommend building the pressure before starting the car (worried the cams will slip some teeth on the belt)

Thanks
Mike

 

welll...

the tensioner just bolts to the sidecover, and tensions on its own....

we tend to replace it for piece of mind when we do timing belt changes.... If the motor is at TDC and certain other areas in the revolution, you will have some slack in the belt, when neither of the cams and lobes are being tensioned by the springs.

it shouldnt be excessive...sometimes about 1/2" maybe a tiny bit more.... so if your close to that you should be ok.... (12.7mm is 1/2").....

just make sure your timing marks line up on the crank, and gears.... and make sure its turned more than 3 complete times or so, and check.

also, the kevlar timing belts and such, will have slightly different slack than a stocker.

cheers

cb

 

Usually if you go that deep into the timing cover, its a good idea to replace the tensioner alog with the belt (and balance shaft belt too), however the one thing I notice is after you do the cam install, there's a little additional slack after things line up a bit. After you do your test to make sure the pulleys lined up right and you didn't lose your timing marks and once you start the car the tensioner and belt take up most of that slack but its still "loose"

If you reset the tensioner when you remove it from the car, and put the pin in, if it doesnt bind or have wear that makes it feel "crunchy" when recompressing it, its safe to reuse it.

 

Oh and the tensioner is completely self contained....

 

Ok,

thanks guys.

I will check if it is around the 1/2" play when I reinstall the cam pullies (still need to Put them on).

the tensioner felt smooth when compressing it and there is no oil leak anywhere.

the car only has 3000mile on it.

if the play is more I have a feeling that when the tensoner was put on originally it was not pretensioned properly with the auto tensioner piston not interfering. I think that the piston may have run out of travel to keep the belt tight.

Mike

 

anyone got the part # for that tool from mitsu? i need one bad

 

go to the local hardware store

M8 x 1.25 mm threaded rod. cut to between 8 - 12 inches long. spin 2 nuts on the end and lock them together. good to go, just go slowly when you release the tensioner so it has time to move back, and put some lube on the threads before you spin it into the motor.

Cost abut $3 (converted from my currency)


I finished fitting the cams and all went Perfectly, the belt came up tight and all was timed perfectly, after many rotations by hand.

Was actually a very easy install.

Thanks for all the Advice and help guys

Mike