Timing Belt Tensioner Hsg '97

[evo-gsr]

^ thats all that matters.

 

[Django]

Cool, the box i got my tensioner in was covered in small mitsubishi logos, hence it being a genuine part. I remember someone saying that Meek stopped selling Dayco cause they tend to fail. Thanks for the info, great to know you can get them nice and cheap SOMEWHERE out there

 

[penngwyne]

How did you adjust your tensioner?
The instructions in the manual are very hard to do
I just kept increasing the belt tension in small amounts until the pin became loose, tightened up the pulley bolt,
turned the motor over twice and left it for at least 15 minutes then if the pin was still loose pulled it out.
Seemed to work OK.

 

[Django]

Sounds fine. I just tensioned the belt and whacked it back together, checked it later, it is fine.

One thing I recommend doing is popping that bolt out of the oil pump and making sure the balance shaft is in the right position with a small screwdriver through the hole. I had a fellow say to me the other day that i need to reposition mine cause there is engine vibration increasing from 3000 rpm, so I'm checking this today. good fun

 

[Django]

Had a look, aligned to top dead and no idea wtf the manual means about putting a screwdriver in "the plug hole" there is a picture there but it makes no sense to me after looking at the pump. There are three bolts on mine and they are all like 3-4" long and they are fasteners for the oil pump. There is no "plug" style bolt as they say there is. I can only imagine that if the timing marks are correctly aligned on the oil pump sprocket that the internals are aligned and also the shaft is hence, aligned correctly...

If anyone can clarify which effing bolt I'm supposed to be looking at I'd love to hear it. In the meantime it's going back together.

So after further inspection of the manual I can only assume they mean to put the screwdriver into the "plug" that's on the rear side of the block (intake side). Basically to tell which way the shaft is turned as these have the counterweight to one side of the shaft. I assume this is correct.

 

[penngwyne]

Had a look, aligned to top dead and no idea wtf the manual means about putting a screwdriver in "the plug hole" there is a picture there but it makes no sense to me after looking at the pump. There are three bolts on mine and they are all like 3-4" long and they are fasteners for the oil pump. There is no "plug" style bolt as they say there is. I can only imagine that if the timing marks are correctly aligned on the oil pump sprocket that the internals are aligned and also the shaft is hence, aligned correctly...

If anyone can clarify which effing bolt I'm supposed to be looking at I'd love to hear it. In the meantime it's going back together.

The plug (which is a short bolt) is on the back of the engine along the line of the balance shaft housing.
It is inboard of what I think is a bracing strut and you can get to it (only just) from the LH wheel arch but it is hard to see from there
If you get underneath you will be able to see it (with some lighting)
It is a bolt by itself, not bolting anything to anything, and it is on what looks like a flat machined surface close to the top of the said housing..
You will not be able to get and ordinary length phillips head screwdriver (8mm diameter) in there as there is not a lot of room.
I actually used a long bolt with 8mm diameter.

Have a look at the attached pages should give you an idea where it is

 

[penngwyne]

When I did mine there was more than one position where the "screwdriver" went in more than 25mm
I turned the balance shaft until the tool would not go in and then turned the sprocket one more turn as described.
I think the manual implies that is the correct spot.

Also note that both the camshaft timing marks have to line up with the top of the engine block.
This you can check with a mirror and a light.
It is easy to be a tooth out.

If lining up all 5 marks is not frustrating you are either very lucky or you are not doing it right.

 

[penngwyne]

Sounds fine. I just tensioned the belt and whacked it back together, checked it later, it is fine.

How did you check it?
If you get it wrong it can be expensive later on if the hydraulic tensioner runs out of travel.
You can get a special tool from Meek which is a must have for this job and is not expensive.
I assume you also replaced the other balancer belt which is apparently often forgotten, eventually breaks and takes out the main belt with generally catastrophic results to the motor.

 

[Django]

yeah I found the bolt easy enough and the shaft was in the correct position (phew) screwdriver went all the way in.

I tightened the tensioner with a small screwdriver in one of the holes in the tensioner pulley. I checked it as the manual says to, with a drillbit. it was under the specs of the manual as in 3mm to 4.5mm or whatever it says, it was only 2.5 but I'm not too worried, it's definitely not on the side of too much travel. Thanks for the replys, I appreciate the info you put up. Oh yeah i got a full kit with both belts, oil seals and a tensioner, $326. so both belts were replaced.

And yeah the cam pulleys were a pain but in the end we got it right, i needed an extra hand to get the tensioner right the way i did it.

 

[penngwyne]

Yes I found the same thing. The replacement tensioner didn't stick out as far as it was supposed to but the alen key, in my case, came out easily.
However I installed the timing belt in the wrong direction of rotation and had to swap it around. I think I knocked the balance shaft out of timing when I did it and didn't realize.
At least I hope that's what the noise is.
Now I have to take all the stuff off and check it again. Bugger!

With the tensioning tool you can do it by yourself.

 

[Django]

yeah you can do it by yourself with the tool, you shouldn't have worried about the direction it says on the belt, that don't mean a pinch of shit.

What kind of noise are you talking about?

To check the balance shaft, do what I just did and save the hassle of pulling all the timing case covers off and just pull the top one off then align to top dead, dowels at the top, cam marks all lining up. Double check with a light or screwdriver into cylinder no. 1. Whack that bolt out on the side of the block and stick a screwdriver in there, it doesn't have to be to spec 8mm, just any old thing, they say 8mm so you don't go damaging something by swinging it around in there and hitting something, which I don't see how you will. If it goes all the way in, walah, not the problem.