Hi all,
I am fitting a new aircon belt tensioner today but I am not sure about something.
The old tensioner shredded and the belt wore a hole in the casing behind it.
I started to take it off but the case splits in half.the casing I need to repair is the one directly behind the pulley that drives the alternator and I think the power steering pump.
My question as I turn the 22mm nut to remove that lower pulley I can see the timing belt and pulleys turning also,
so if I take the pulley off to repair the casing,will I have to reset the timing?
I have never done this before and I don't want to damage the car but it needs to be repaired to stop **** and rain getting into that timing belt casing.

 

Here's the pulley I need to remove to finish the temporary repair as the hole continues behind the pulley

 

No. You are turning the crankshaft which, of course, drives the timing belt. If you remove the pulley you will not disturb the timing belt. The bolt is very tight, so you will need to lock the pulley to stop the crankshaft from turning and use an extension on the socket arm.
Did the broken piece of cover fall outwards or in? If in, don't run the engine until you've done the job. If you're sure there's no debris inside, you could cover the hole with duct tape!

JohnD

 

Hi,
how do I lock the pulley?
I tried putting it in gear but it feels like I am going to break something.

The casing didn't break,it's just worn down by the belt rubbing on it and it's worn through.I am guessing all the dust created may have gone into the case though.I have sealed most of it but it's still worn through a bit behind the pulley

 

If you don't have the special locking tool for the pulley, putting the car in fourth or fifth gear and getting someone to put their foot on the brake is the way to go.

 

When i done my cam belt i used a trorque wrench and got somoene to hold it against the atlernator pulley and cranked the engine with the crank and cam sensors disconnected, job done. its not the safest way to remove it but it worked for me

 

Fifth gear and brakes and then put a breaker bar on it, it's very tight and don't worry you will not snap anything if your sockets on good. (use a hex socket)

 

spoke to a guy today who said leave it because it WILL throw the timing out and it will need to be retimed??
so whats the truth?

 

Removing the crank pulley will not have any effect on timing as the pulley that the timing belt runs on has a woodruf key, just dont run the engine with the crank pulley off and it will be fine.

 

There are 4 holes in the pulley. I use a snuggish fitting good grade allen key in one of the holes and a long bar or tyre lever levered against this and the head of a torque wrench. Then, using a tube extension on the torque wrench, use a lot of muscle to hold the lever and pull the torque wrench. Same procedure with the bar the other way round to torque it up again.

Hope this helps