[Lokidog]

It appears the bearings on my timing belt tensioner may have collapsed. Can't quite see or confirm it though, as I need to remove the crank shaft pulley, to remove the timing belt cover.

My 1st question is the crank shaft pulley bolt a reverse thread? Don't want to do any damage by turn it the wrong way?

Thanks Darren

[shandy92]

Hey Darren,

you dont need to undo that big bolt, only the 4-5 smaller bolts that hold the pulley to the crank. if you take that bolt out the crankshaft gear will come off.

Mitch

[Scrawny]

If you do take the big bolt out it's a normal right hand thread

[Lokidog]

Thanks Mitch and Scrawn, glad we didn't undo it then. Don't want to fruck the timing belt position.

2nd question… What are the chances Repco will have the timing belt tensioner in stock? If not, can the bearing be replaced and does anyone know the part number.

[Scrawny]

You might have to buy the kit, belt and bearing. You could get lucky if you shop around

[shandy92]

dont think you can pull the bearing out, its worth doing the belt while its off anyway. save doing a job twice.

[Lokidog]

Timing belt was done Oct 7 2011 when the head gasket was replaced. The pisser is… I have been getting a random knocking noise that I have been trying to pinpoint for the last couple of weeks. I had my neighbour take a quick look and he said it sounded like it was coming from the inside the timing belt cover. Sure enough, we pulled the top bolts out of the timing cover and pulled it back to find that the timing belt was creeping forward and rubbing on the inside of the plastic cover. He then spotted that the tensioner was on the piss and said it's bearings have most likely collapsed, causing the timing belt to move forward. It appears the only thing stopping the belt from coming right off, was the cover. I'm a bit jacked as the mechanics who did the head, head gasket and timing belt should have checked or replaced the tensioner as well.

[shandy92]

the only thing stopping the belt coming off is the crank pulley, this acts as a guide. if you pull the pulley off it would rub a heap more, im not sure a collapsed tensioner would cause it to walk forward. you would just hear a bearing noise.

i could be wrong tho, ill keep watching

[Lokidog]

We'll have a better idea tomorrow when the cover's removed. From what we can see, it looks like the tensioner's on the piss and the timing belt slipped forward and is rubbing on the inside of the cover.

[christover1]

Sometimes the cover itself can be the problem.
I had to replace all the rubber bushes on my Sierras timing cover to stop an evil noise.
And my Vit had a collapsed rubber behind cover, that allowed cover to move back to far.
Worth checking while things are apart

[Lokidog]

Looks like the spring tensioner may have been set up incorrectly. There was no tension on the tensioner. The pivot point doesn't seem to be moving and we're wondering whether the spring has be located in the wrong hole on the plate tensioner. They've used the bottom hole and we've noticed that there's another at the top.

[Scrawny]

Pic??

[Lokidog]

Working on it. Phone cameras suck.

[Lokidog]

We've cable tied the belt to stop it from jumping any cogs and stuffing the timing up.

The spring has little tension and we cannot move the plate tensioner. We believe the tensioner spring setup may be wrong, but can't find any reference to confirm this is the case and how it should actually be set up.

I've tried to show as much as possible with the attached pics.

[Scrawny]

Can you get a close up shot of the tensioner and spring? The spring doesn't have a lot of tension on it but it should pull the bearing over. Is it the right bearing? Now that you're in there it might be better to mark the belt, pull it right off and get the bearing out. That way you can check the bearing properly

[Lokidog]

I've just added a third image. Hard to see but the bolt just above the cog is where the spring is fixed. Have removed the tensioner and the bearings are dry so will need replacing.

[Lokidog]

Three images show how the spring is currently set up. Hopefully this can help someone confirm whether this is right or wrong.

Still need to see whether Repco carries the kits or it's off to Suzistore tomorrow.

[christover1]

This is my old Vit motor and new swift/baleno motor.
It may help.
The tensioner bearing can go on wrong, theres locating lugs etc.

[Scrawny]

Be careful, from memory the G13 and G16 tensioners are slightly different. It should be setup as in the image you've used Lokidog

[Lokidog]

Thanks Christover. Managed to get the new tensioner from Repco.

Scrawn the spring isn't tight and the plate doesn't seem to want to budge. is the washer behind the stud supposed to go in a particular way, so the plate can pivot.

[christover1]

spring plate should move,
make sure its not on backwards, have seen that happen.

Keep pulley bolt a bit loose, and the stud bolt, then tighten both together when have desired tension.

[Scrawny]

Maybe someone has fitted another spring that isn't quite right, hence the end is moved to a different place to try and get some tension out of it.

[Scrawny]

In reality, you don't really need the spring. You can just tension the belt by levering the bearing across, just a bit tricky to get a good tension.

[shandy92]

lokidog, those pics showing where the spring was are incorrect. you should try and follow the pics that christover posted and the solo image. i did a swift g13ba/ab timing belt a few months ago and that is how i set it up.

Scrawn wrote:

Be careful, from memory the G13 and G16 tensioners are slightly different. It should be setup as in the image you've used Lokidog

i dont think they are, maybe m13 is different to g13.

[Lokidog]

We tensioned the bearing as what Scrawn suggested. All back together now and the noise has gone. What Mitch suggested regarding the set up should be similar to the vitara set up on christovers, is definitely as possibility as there is a thread hole in the same position on my block. We think the washer behind the stud (pivot point) for the plate tensioner is not OEM. It doesn't allow any pivot when tightened. So atm the position of the anchor point for the spring is irrelevent, atleast until we can locate a washer that will allow the plate to pivot when tightened. I'd also like more confirmation the spring set up should be as per christovers pics and Mitch's suggestion. Then I'll sort it when the timing belts due in a few years. Thanks everyone.

[christover1]

There may be confusion, at least I am
Once tightened there is no more movement,
it is not a self adjusting system (on mine)
Spring just helps it pull on plate during adjustment/fitting.
I agree it shouldn't need the spring, once adjusted and tightened.

I could be misunderstanding, though

[Scrawny]

I'm with Chris ^^^

The tensioner will only move when the bolts are backed off slightly. Once the bolts are done up tight the tensioner will not move

[Lokidog]

That makes me feel a little better then. Actually the tensioner bearing needed to be torqued up, which would stop any movement for self adjusting. Being the belt has been in the car 12 months now, I think any stretching has already happened.

[zukmeista]

The pics you (lokidog) have posted of your setup are correct, that is how my G13A in my sierra was set up, they are different to a G16.

[Jester]

shandy92 wrote:

lokidog, those pics showing where the spring was are incorrect. you should try and follow the pics that christover posted and the solo image. i did a swift g13ba/ab timing belt a few months ago and that is how i set it up.

Scrawn wrote:

Be careful, from memory the G13 and G16 tensioners are slightly different. It should be setup as in the image you've used Lokidog

i dont think they are, maybe m13 is different to g13.

m series is chain