all I did was turn the pulley until the holes were pointing like this

and then tighten the bolt in the middle. After the bolt was tight, I pulled the allen key out of the auto tensioner and checked the clearance. It worked fine like that, i've done 2 timing belt jobs like that and so far so good.

 

i couldn't get the bolts to line up like that, ones is in the 10 postion and the other at 7 or 8 o'clock postion, with the center bolt to the right of both of them... i also don't have the special tool. in its current postion the belt was rather hard to get on. i will retry to do that tomorrow.

By the way, with the exhuast cam gear, should i line everything up and then simply turn it one more tooth clockwise as i put the belt on?

 

when i said bolts above i ment the holes on the tensioner pulley.

Anyone knows what happen to the t-belt VFAQ video? wouldn't mind seeing that.

 

Try buying an allen key that has is extra long on one end and will fit into the hole in the pulley for the SST. Then put the socket on the center bolt, and put the allen key into the hole in the pulley and use the socket as a pivot to pull the pulley tighter. That way worked the best for me. PM me if you have any questions. - Aaron

 

yes, turn that exhaust cam an extra tooth clockwise to start with, when everything is done don't forget to turn the engine over by hand a couple times and line the timing marks back up, then check and make sure nothing has jumped time..

 

Someone on here pointed out to actually leave the drill bit between the tensioner and tensioner arm (where you're supposed to measure clearance) as you tighten the tensioner pulley bolt.

As you tighten the bolt, the eccentric will turn too, just so happens in turns in the direction to tighten tension, hense the tensioner arm will want to move towards the tensioner body. The tensionaer arm will eventually hit the bit and stop, thus providing proper clearance. Hope that makes sense. Try to set things up so that as it hits the bit, you reaching the tourque spec.

I don't want to even tall ya how I did, it took forever, but I ended up nailing the clearance and tourque specs which made me happy. I wished I had sprung for a tensioner tool because it would have saved me 4 hours of farking around.

I told my broter-in-law about it and he yanks a tensioner tool out of his tool box, I had no idea he had one.....DOH!!!!

 

There's probably 10 other ways of doing it too and more will be invented in the future. The important part is taking whatever time is required to arrive at the correct clearance between the arm and the hydraulic tensioner body.

 

I'm up for a timing belt job myself. I;m planning on getting the Kevlar Timing belt. What I want to know is what are the drill bits I need to purchase for the right size clearence for the plunger between the tensioner body and arm. And the tensioner tool.... Where and what type would I need cause I want to do this right, my first time doing my own timing belt (Third timing belt change 120,000, the big one)Could I get it at a place like Sears?

 

To replace the tool for setting the torque - use your fingers ;-)

The fast way to do this:

Grab a drill bit around .15" - go buy one exactly that size if possible (we used a .152" we had handy), and no smaller than .15"
Put that drill bit between the top of the tensioner and the tensioner arm (See Fig 21 above). Compress the tensioner using the battery bolt until it lightly touches the drill bit (can still slide it in and out, but is not rattling loose)
Grab the tensioner pulley, rotate it up until the belt is getting taut, then pull up on it lightly (remember, the torque on this is only 2-3 ft-lbs). You can also use a 90 degree circlip pliers to rotate the pulley using the holes for the real tool (if you don't know what 90 degree circlip pliers are, then don't worry about it and use your fingers). Then torque the pulley down
Loosen the battery bolt several turns, but don't remove it. Check the tensioner gap, it should be barely over the drill bit size, if not right on it still. Rotate the engine six times, let sit for about 15min, check the tensioner gap again to make sure it is within spec (.15-.18")
I have set belts this way over half a dozen times, and the only variables are how hard you tighten the tensioner down onto the drill bit (*just touching it, no pressure*) and how hard you pull the pulley tight with your fingers (too hard, and the gap is too small). I've gotten to the point that I can get it perfect on the first try.

Text by:
Tom Stangl
Rick Santangelo

 

5/32 is .156" make sure this one fits
3/16 is .187" this one shouldn't fit

TBS says 3.4 - 4.5 mm or .15" to .18"

 

The clearance is from 5/32 to 3/16. You can buy both drill bits if you are uncertain.

Beat me to it

 

when i did my 6bolt swap i had the same issue. All i did was just grab an allen wrench slip it in one of the 2 holes on the tensioner pully and pull untill i could get the 2 holes like it shows in that pic on the vfaq. Its a pain in the dick but after 4-5times of doing it you will get used to it. Just be patient and you will get it. It also helps if you have a freind around to tighten the tensioner pully bolt from up top when you get the pully set correctly.

 

Anyone knows what happen to the t-belt VFAQ video? wouldn't mind seeing that.

I do.

It's still sitting on two camcorder tapes waiting to be imported to my PC for editing. I was planning on having this done by the beginning of October, but life got in the way. I still want to complete it, but I have a few things to take care of first.

Stay Tuned...

 

i've found that using the grenade pin that holds the auto tensioner closed helps out a lot..

Instead of using the typical technique of screwing down the battery bolt tool and such....

i just leave the grenade pin in, and then try to tighten tensioner pulley with the holes near the 10-12 oclock marks. it should be the correct tension when the grenade pin can be removed and put back in smoothly...

then i use the drill bits to verify it's the correct gap. then wait and turn engine over and recheck..

i think i read about this from a vr4 timing belt job or from some other messages... adjusting with the grenade pin seems to be easier vs. the battery bolt tightening sequence deal, i never seemed to get everything perfect that way.

 

Ok, thats good to hear cause thats how i have to do it, but heres my problem: when i try to line the holes up Near the top of the pulley its hitting the water pump ... should i be holding the pulley bracket down toward the auto-tensioner or should the pulley bracket be pulled away ... anyways its dark now, i got the belt to tension but the holes are near the bottom and the gap your suppose to measure is way too large ...

when you guys tighten down the pulley center bolt, you already have the belt over the pulley correct? then you push it (the pulley/bracket/belt) to the right to give the belt tension and then tighten down the center bolt to about 25 ft. lbs. (at this point the holes should be near 10 and 12 o'clock right). after this you can remove the pin from the auto-tensioner and measure the gap. turn the crank a few times, check all the timing again and then let it sit for awhile and keep re-checking?

man once i figure this out im sure its easy but this is my first time setting a belt's tension like this ... what a mess!

 

[BInstead of using the typical technique of screwing down the battery bolt tool and such....
. [/B]

What is the battery bolt tool..... A little confusing cause battery and timing belt are in different locations:dunno: Is it that long bolt that hooks up to the end of the battery hold down, you know the one that hooks into the battery shelf that has a smal v at the end of it...

 

Battery bolt tool is the improvised version of the official tool MD998738... a long bolt which pushes down the tensioner
arm..

there's a vfaq out concerning how to thread the battery bolt to use it as a tool..

as for the questions on tightening the tensioner pulley.. i'm not really sure what you're trying to ask.. read thru the timing belt vfaq to get a full understanding of all the parts and such.. the belt should install on all the pulleys and sprockets with a little bit of slack due to tensioner pushed down and the tensioner pulley not tensioned fully...

in order to tension the pulley, make sure u tension the pulley by pushing up, it is possible to tension pushing down also, but the 2 holes won't be anywhere near 10/12 oclock marks..

you should only be adding tension to the belt by pushing up on the tensioner pulley.... the tensioner arm should be down on the autotensioner..

read and then re-read thru the timing belt vfaq..

 

Oh Well thanks for the info. I looked up the VFAQ and unfortunately I don't have that type of battery hold down bolt. I have a different type with no head and at the end it has like a v to attach to the battery tray through a hole. I'll just buy the tools so I can do it my self anytime I wish. I'll just add to the collection of tools I hope its not too much of a rape at the dealer. Thanks for all the info and help and my confidence has definately shot up.

 

it should be the correct tension when the grenade pin can be removed and put back in smoothly...

That is the correct answer . When setting the correct tension on the belt without using "the special tool", you need to apply as much preload on the pulley 'til you can freely remove the grenade pin by hand. Use the allen wrench/socket method to rotate the pulley while feeling the grenade pin and trying to pull it out of the tensioner. Once you can freely remove the pin, that's where the pulley should be bolted down. Rotate the engine and let it sit, then check if you can insert the grenade pin back into the tensioner. If the holes in the tensioner body and its rod don't align (and you can't insert the pin back), redo the tensioner pulley (= if the hole in the tensioner rod is too high, increase the preload on the pulley in order to bring the rod of the tensioner down - and the other way around). All there's to it, no drill bits needed.

 

Finally....Taboo you have perfectly aswered my question. Now I have no doubts. That was the major doubt I had. I have the original Tensioner from the factory that I took out the first time my belt was done and have that Grenade pin (A needle with a loop, just like a real granade)so now I will do it with ease. 100% confident.:happy:

 

i just can't get the 2 holes in the tensioner pulley to line up at 12 and 10 .. at best i have them at 9 and 7 ... im using a 1G head on a 2G block ... does this make a differance? i can freely remove the pin however so i guess its fine...

 

what i have tried is to put the pin in the auto tensioner, reinstall it, then use a zip tie to hold the tensioner arm down on the tensioner (because it always lifted up when i tryed to roll the tensioner pulley to the correct postion). after its secure i got under the car and pushed the tensioner pulley up and tryed to keep the holes on the left, but the water pump always seemed to get in the way! i pushed up on the pulley untill the pin was able to slide out and then i tighted the pulley bolt to 16 ft/lbs.

 

i do understand 100% what i have to do .. but its just not working out. wondering if im doing something wrong. anyways, any time i here how someone did it i understand alittle more. thanks taboo.

 

acidikjuice, how did you get it to work out? I'm doing the t belt change now and had similiar problems. I got the holes on the tensioner pulley to align at 10 and 12 oclock and so theres some tension on the belt. I removed the auto tensioner and put a pin through it to hold it in place. Now when i go to bolt it back on, it doesnt fit. The plunger wont give me clearance. If i adjust the tensioner arm, i can put it in but the pulley falls out of place. Help

 

Don't put tension on the pulley until you have the auto tensioner reinstalled with the pin in it. Do it like this: Remove auto tensioner, compress it, insert pin, reinstall auto tensioner, move the pulley to 10 and 12 o'clock, and then make sure you can insert and remove the pin with ease. Good luck.