what is the trick to getting the spring loaded
 

belt tensioner off? i need the thing off, i believe to change the timing belt.

thanks!

Loosen the bolts at the piviot and at the slot, pry the arm back and tighten it.

yeah, i did that. don't i need to get the thing entirely off to change the belt?

Three nuts hold it onto the block, it slips on over studs. Use an inspection mirror to figure out where they are.

oh boy. i need a mirror for this? thanks!

Its not they are hard to reach, its just they are hard to see due to the position. Of course you could take the radiator and the fans out for a clear shot.

i think my last post sounded bad. thanks for the information. i'll take a look tomorrow.

Compress the arm and tighten it. Take the idler pulley off -- one bolt. Release the tension on the arm. You do not have to take the arm off. Don't loose the special oblong washer or put it back on wrong -- there is an indexing tab that locks the oblong washer into the casting.

With the tension off of the arm you can get to the three bolts that hold it on.

There are three hex nuts holding the tensioner assembly to the block.
Do not compress the tensioner yet until you have removed the hidden nut beside the tensioner roller.
Remove the hidden nut first, then compress the tensioner, then remove the other two nuts holding the tensioner assembly.
Then you can pull out the tensioner assembly.

IF you can get to the "hidden" retainer with out releasing the tension on the arm.

ok, just to be sure: do i have to remove this part to replace the belt?

You don't have to, as long as you compress it far enough to leave enough room to work the belt out.

And take the pulley off the end of the arm.

I am a 'veteran' of 6 belt jobs now, let me just say its alot easier to get the old belt off and the new one on by taking the tensioner off. Its only 3 nuts.

Never said NOT taking the whole unit off was easier. Trying to answer a thousand questions. Time to cut bait.

I didnt mean that towards anyone. I was just simply saying in my experience its much easier to just take the entire thing off.

I've seen newbies take the whole thing apart with the spring and arm flying off to hide in dusty corners. Also over compressing the arm so that it covers one of the three studs/nuts and using a pry bar because it's "stuck". Just don't loose the obround washer and put it back on correctly if you do.

ok. i have to change the roller as well. they are all worn. how about just taking the roller off and leaving the rest of the assembly attached? or will that be an even bigger PITA?

It's been my experience that removing the whole assembly is what worked best for me.

Seriously, just take the damned thing off! Its 3 nuts!

You need to hold a bolt on the opposite side anyhow.

wow, techno, i am beginning to think you are grumpy one! ;)

i'll be taking it off tomorrow.

I am getting ready to do this myself and I have read many of the threads on this subject. If I understand this correctly, you remove the tensioner roller first, then remove the hidden nut near the roller end of the tensioner, compress the spring and lock it, then remove the other two hidden nuts near the spring end of the tensioner and remove tensioner assembly. Does this sound correct?

Also, is it worth the extra effort to remove the pulleys on the crank to make it easier to install the timing and balance belts as Clark's manual suggests?

Thanks!

I never had to remove the roller in order to remove the nuts, but it's certainly one way to do it. Just have a good look and find where the nuts are...then it's just physics from there.

Removing the crank pulleys is a pain...you need a flywheel lock, breaker bar, gear puller, and possibly removing the radiator if your gear puller doesn't fit in there otherwise (oh, and a torque wrench that can torque the bolt back to 156 ft.lbs.). If you are patient and work carefully you can shimmy the new timing belt into where it needs to go without messing anything up and without removing the pulleys.

I've never removed the crank pulleys when I do a timing belt job, just the fans in front of the radiator. I don't remember removing the tensioner arm 1 out of the 3 times... the other times it came off because either the pulley or water pump was coming off. Removing the fans though, that frees up a TON of room down there!

I can't remember for sure but I don't think i removed the pulley on the tensioner...actually pretty sure I didn't. I think I remove the gear on the crank when I replace the seal, but you shouldn't have to do that unless you are resealing the front of the motor. IIRC

Removing the fans is pretty much required. There's just no room for anything with them in there.

Thanks everyone for the info/tips. I will tackle the belt removal this weekend. The new belts and rollers won't be here until mid next week. If anyone else has info/tips I would certainly appreciate it.

Thanks!:)

Spring loaded tensioner
 

I just changed my belts last week on my new '88 951 which has the spring-loaded tensioner. The factory manual said to remove the tensioner, so without consulting this forum, I did. It came off real easy after removing the nut on the pivot stud and the bolt from the slot. Getting it back on was a different story....I struggled with it for at least an hour, and the designer and his mother are probably rolling over in their graves after all the names I called them. As SoCal said, "don't remove it, it's a PITA to re-install". The problem is that there is no way to compress the spring enough to allow you to position the tensioner exactly over the machined post/threaded stud that it swivels on. One thing that I found that helps is that a 944 balance shaft spanner wrench fits perfectly in the 2 small holes in on the face of the tensioner. After locating the end of the spring into its proper location in the tab on the engine block, use the wrench to rotate the tensioner counterclockwise to compress the spring, and then lift the tensioner slightly to align it on the swivel post and push it home. It's a PITFA.........What is really needed is a little spring compressor that could be applied to the spring and be removed after the tensioner is located properly. I'm a tool designer by trade, I will see if I can design and build something to try out.

If my memory is correct - it sounds like the last poster disassembled the tensioner rather than simply removing it in one piece. In my experience it came off easily as long as one nut is removed first before compressing the arm and locking it down. Then remove the other two nuts and take the whole thing out of the way.

As far as the crank pulley - I just wiggled the belt in there without removing the pulleys.

Just my 2 cents

That what it sounds like to me too. I did that the first time and learned a valuable lesson....do it the right way. There are three nuts that hold it on and it's not hard to take on and off.

I couldn't wait until this weekend so I decided to start removing the old belts tonight. Andy, you are exactly right. I studied the tensioner carefully before I attempted to remove it. I located the three bolts and did exactly what you described and the tensioner slipped right off. It might be possible to R/R the belt without removing the tensioner but I am replacing the roller on the end of the tensioner arm, so I needed to remove it. I wiggled the old belt out around the gears and pulleys and it was tight. I hope I don't damage the new belt when I put it in.