View single post by Palindrome
 Posted: 01-21-2014 12:46 am
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Palindrome

 

Joined: 01-13-2014
Location: Moscow, Idaho USA
Posts: 8
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 I am trying to get 12465 ready for the road. Following advice from this site, I am replacing the timing belt and have intended to replace the tensioner bearings. It now seems that the Mark I presents way more problems than described in the process of renewing Mark 2 bearings.

I have the belt off and the tensioner loose, but now see that the nice cast-in timing mark extension blocks the removal of the tensioner. It appears that I will have to remove the crankshaft front cover to get the tensioner off. Yikes, I wasn't looking to rebuild the engine.

The current bearings seem to turn smoothly and I'm tempted to just push the tensioner back into place and put on the new belt. However, I can't see how to access the bolt on the back of the tensioner to tension the belt once it is on.

Does anyone have a suggestion for an easy way to deal with the Mark I tensioner?

As background; this car has been in storage for many years. The engine is very clean and appears to have been rebuilt not long before storage. The old timing belt looks fine, but seemed a little loose with the tensioner at what looked like maximum extension.

Thanks for any suggestions.