Home 
Home Search search Menu menu Not logged in - Login | Register
> Jensen Healey & Jensen GT Tech > Engine & Transmission > Mark I cam belt tensioner need advice

 Moderated by: Greg Fletcher
New Topic Reply Printer Friendly
Mark I cam belt tensioner need advice  Rating:  Rating
AuthorPost
 Posted: 01-21-2014 12:46 am
  PM Quote Reply
1st Post
Palindrome
Member
 

Joined: 01-13-2014
Location: Moscow, Idaho USA
Posts: 8
Status: 
Offline
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.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 01-21-2014 02:58 pm
  PM Quote Reply
2nd Post
Brett Gibson JH5 20497
Member
 

Joined: 03-17-2005
Location: Hilton, New York USA
Posts: 798
Status: 
Offline
My 2 cents would be change the bearing, a $5 bearing is not worth losing the engine over and you are questioning the setup so it seems you have doubts. As for adjusting the adjuster there is a special wrench that is stepped and goes behind the adjuster and turns it, I took a quick look in the Club Store but did not see it, maybe I looked in the wrong spot. It's a pretty simple thing that a diagram was posted once or twice on these boards for something you can make yourself, if not I'm sure Delta probably has them.

Brett

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 01-21-2014 07:42 pm
  PM Quote Reply
3rd Post
Dakota123
Member
 

Joined: 03-20-2009
Location: Colorado USA
Posts: 187
Status: 
Offline
Heh, removing the front cover doesn't make bearing removal much easier...

The tensioner needs to be rotated to give as much clearance between the timing pointer and the tensioner as possible.  I'm pretty sure I ended up removing the bearings out from under the outer 'cover' (it's three pieces, two bearings and the outer pulley that the belt rides on); the smaller size of the individual bearings clears the pointer.  Pretty sure I mounted the new bearings to the shaft first and then installed the outer cover over the bearings.  (Or maybe it was the inner bearing, then the cover, and then the outer bearing -- I don't remember.)

For reassembly I first heated the bearings to 200 degrees in an oven, while freezing the housing to -10 in the deep freezer.  Then froze that assembly in the freezer and heated the outer cover.  Went together pretty easily that way.  I ended up using a Mark II bearing shaft and adjusting eccentric to make adjusting easier.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 01-21-2014 08:03 pm
  PM Quote Reply
4th Post
Palindrome
Member
 

Joined: 01-13-2014
Location: Moscow, Idaho USA
Posts: 8
Status: 
Offline
Thanks for your suggestions.

What tool do you use to remove the bearings (or outer cover) while the unit is still on the car? The directions I've seen for bearing removal involve a bench vice.

I guess I'd have the same question for reinstallation (especially with those hot and cold parts:-)

Thanks again.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 01-21-2014 08:22 pm
  PM Quote Reply
5th Post
Dakota123
Member
 

Joined: 03-20-2009
Location: Colorado USA
Posts: 187
Status: 
Offline
I cobbled together a small-ish two-jaw puller with standoffs under the ears to bear against the inner bearing.  To keep the outer cover in place I periodically braced the bearings against the support web and using a bronze drift tapped (pounded?) the outer cover back to its normal position.

Messy, and there's no turning back since bearing damage is almost inevitable.

Last edited on 01-22-2014 05:22 am by Dakota123

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 01-22-2014 05:18 am
  PM Quote Reply
6th Post
Palindrome
Member
 

Joined: 01-13-2014
Location: Moscow, Idaho USA
Posts: 8
Status: 
Offline
Dakota,
That sounds quite ingenious, but scary.

I wonder about putting a locking nut on the stud that goes through the excentric spindle into the block and unscrewing the stud out of the block. Then if the stud can be pulled out through the spindle, the whole tensioner could just be lifted out past the timing marker. My concern is that the stud may be frozen in the block and would strip out the threads in the aluminum block.

Any thoughts?

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 01-22-2014 05:19 am
  PM Quote Reply
7th Post
Palindrome
Member
 

Joined: 01-13-2014
Location: Moscow, Idaho USA
Posts: 8
Status: 
Offline
Thanks, Brett.

I intend to buy the wrench from Delta.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 01-22-2014 05:32 am
  PM Quote Reply
8th Post
Dakota123
Member
 

Joined: 03-20-2009
Location: Colorado USA
Posts: 187
Status: 
Offline
Would that it were that simple. The stud can be removed no problem, but the steel spindle is a press fit into the aluminum cover and isn't going anywhere without breaking something. In fact, it's really difficult even to rotate the thing to set the belt tension.

On mine at least, you may have better luck.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 01-22-2014 06:46 am
  PM Quote Reply
9th Post
Palindrome
Member
 

Joined: 01-13-2014
Location: Moscow, Idaho USA
Posts: 8
Status: 
Offline
Oh yah!
I have already pulled the tensioner out as far as there is room, so I should have known that the stud would make no difference. Thanks for reminding me.

Hard to believe they could have designed it this way, but I guess they realized the problem after it was in production and eventually fixed it...that was the story of the 907 engine.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 01-22-2014 02:01 pm
  PM Quote Reply
10th Post
Brett Gibson JH5 20497
Member
 

Joined: 03-17-2005
Location: Hilton, New York USA
Posts: 798
Status: 
Offline
On my engine at least the stud was not a press fit but threaded ??? later style engine, went to adjust it once and the thing unscrewed had to double nut it to get it back in tight.

Brett

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 01-22-2014 05:53 pm
  PM Quote Reply
11th Post
roland11a
Member
 

Joined: 12-11-2012
Location: Stone. Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Posts: 80
Status: 
Offline
Hi
Most of the advise I got was to put on the later bearing that can be adjusted from the front. This comes in one piece.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 01-22-2014 08:27 pm
  PM Quote Reply
12th Post
Brett Gibson JH5 20497
Member
 

Joined: 03-17-2005
Location: Hilton, New York USA
Posts: 798
Status: 
Offline
And that is good advise.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 01-22-2014 08:30 pm
  PM Quote Reply
13th Post
roland11a
Member
 

Joined: 12-11-2012
Location: Stone. Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Posts: 80
Status: 
Offline
Ah thanks. It was duly taken

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 01-22-2014 10:40 pm
  PM Quote Reply
14th Post
roland11a
Member
 

Joined: 12-11-2012
Location: Stone. Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Posts: 80
Status: 
Offline
I ended up dropping on a later lotus short engine with a good crank. also a set of original liners, pistons and bearings off ebay. rebuilt engine incorperating  the later modifications where posssible such as a smaller oil way into the head, small hole drilled in the oil pump , latest cam cover gaskets & no gasket in the cam carriers, to name the basics.

However none of this helps Palindrome

I don't remember having any trouble fitting the later tensioner bearing, just had to draw off the crankshaft pulley to allow the tensioner to be withdrawn


Attachment: cambelt tensioner.jpg (Downloaded 135 times)

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 01-22-2014 11:18 pm
  PM Quote Reply
15th Post
Palindrome
Member
 

Joined: 01-13-2014
Location: Moscow, Idaho USA
Posts: 8
Status: 
Offline
I appreciate all of these responses and such good advice.

The issue with the early engine is that the ignition timing marks, by the crankshaft pulley, is a lovely piece cast with the crankshaft cover plate. The timing pointer sticks out and up in front of the tensioner, blocking its removal. I can't seem to shrink down a photo to a small enough file size to post.

BTW I have ordered the special wrench for the nut on the back of the tensioner.

Another issue is that my camshaft pulleys have been reversed...marked x-110 and I-115 on the intake, I-110 and X-115 on the exhaust. Right now I'm hoping that I didn't bend the valves trying to line up the 110 marks before I realized the pulleys were reversed.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 01-22-2014 11:51 pm
  PM Quote Reply
16th Post
Dakota123
Member
 

Joined: 03-20-2009
Location: Colorado USA
Posts: 187
Status: 
Offline
There's a decent picture here:

http://www.jensenhealey.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=1500&forum_id=15&page=2

Doesn't do the interference total justice, but gives an idea at least.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 02-28-2014 06:02 pm
  PM Quote Reply
17th Post
redracer
Member
 

Joined: 09-10-2012
Location: BROOKHAVEN, Georgia USA
Posts: 652
Status: 
Offline
Unfortunately, you're correct about the earlier front crank housings. Either update that one to the later housing(don't forget the marks are 10 degrees off now) or file the old one just enough at the zero degree mark to put the belt tensioner on and off for the next time.
I SKYPE many who have questions as it is a lot easier in real time to fix, etc. whatever.
bruce madden
SKYPE name: RockClimber52

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 03-07-2014 07:55 pm
  PM Quote Reply
18th Post
Palindrome
Member
 

Joined: 01-13-2014
Location: Moscow, Idaho USA
Posts: 8
Status: 
Offline
Thanks.
I had wondered if the timing mark extension could be cut back. I'll probably try filing it. I'll keep your skype contact info. Thanks for your willingness to help.
Bob

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

Current time is 03:48 am  
> Jensen Healey & Jensen GT Tech > Engine & Transmission > Mark I cam belt tensioner need advice Top




UltraBB 1.172 Copyright © 2007-2011 Data 1 Systems