Quote:
Originally Posted by eligunn
My experience is that you can totally tension the belt just by using your own judgment.
I have personally seen reputable Porsche mechanics reach in there and give the thing a tug or two and then tighten the nut and let her rip.
I have found that there is a visual reference you can use to know whether or not it's in the ballpark.
First of all you want to turn the tensioner counter clockwise to tension the belt. So that it gets closer to the water pump pulley.
At this time the point of the hex part of the tensioner you have your wrench on points right about the center pf the water pump pulley, and you can make minute variations from there. If you are pointed at the center of the pulley you should be close with the tension.
I think the tensioner tool just complicates things and makes you question your judgment. However, the consequences are severe if you screw this up. The last time I had a head rebuilt it was about 300 bucks just for the machine shop bill plus a head gasket on top of that.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eligunn
John_AZ, I was talking about the kind of tensioner without the spring, as viewed in the diagram above.
However whenever I see one tightened properly it is rotated counter clockwise, with the point that is facing the balance belt roller in the diagram approximately 270 degrees counter clockwise to what is viewed in the picture, which I think might be misleading to someone who is trying to line their tensioner up with that one.
Turning the tensioner counter clockwise puts more surface area of the belt in contact with the water pump pulley. And with the point of that hex aiming toward the center of the pulley you know you are close. What you see in the diagram is the flat side of the hex part that has obviously been rotated clockwise to tension, reducing the area of belt contact on the pulley which is wrong.
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eliqunn,
Your experience may tell you the belt is correctly tensioned by the "hex part of the tensioner".
The point of Vans paragraph and my method is to protect the waterpump from bearing failure or seal failure which will happen if you over tension the belt.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/6647314-post7.html
Your visual reference point may change if the belt has been on the car for 30K miles and has stretched.
New belts have to be retensioned after 1500-2000 miles and your visual reference point will not be the same.
John