Xantia Auxcillary belt

[froggy]

Hi, how difficult is it to fit an auxcillary belt on my 1997 Xantia ? never done it before ! any aqdvice will be gratefully received, thanks Terry .

[addo]

What motor - a TD?

You probably have a spring tensioner to compress and pin back.

[froggy]

Yep, a T.D.

[oscar]

Don't forget the old thing on these of (well if you have remains?) of checking if it was running straight and not chaffing from the ole seized spring tensioner saga!
If it is seized you can do a get me home bodge by releasing the eccentric pulley to get it on then tighten that up till you can sort out properly as i had to do before.
Look down at with a rough line of sight to other pulleys to see if offset or angled(they don't like to give them too much grease when made)
A good one ive found now is a long flex 3/8 socket bar with a modded socket attachment as newer ones have a different size square hole to original ones
I got a Silverline double ended sump plug tool which fits ford sierra's etc that end fits newer ones.it does have a hole through the side if you can find a thin enough bar that is strong enough to hold tensioner back as well

[oscar]

It's not a long job half hour'ish.
Jack corner up remove wheel.But don't forget to chock up car as no handbrake plus take out of gear.
Pin back tensioner (theres a hole in it for that)then in the middle theres an eccentric adjuster loosen that then pass new belt around wheels etc(while pulling hair out trying to figure route out?)
Then when you have it on correct move eccentric adjuster round to tighten against belt and lock it off.then when done release spring tensioner refit wheel etc and done etc.
One good thing is a socket and bar etc to fit crank bolt so can turn to get on crank pulley etc(esp if tensioner seized and doing the get me home bodge)
Those sliding long handled wheel nut wrenches that come with 2 double ended sockets are great for get from Lidl's/aldi's and car spare shops under a fiver.And when nuts have been done up with a windy gun.G'rrr

[Xaccers]

Empty the ECU box and use a 10mm socket to remove the box, it gives you much better access to the auto tensioner.
If you're lucky it won't be jammed and you'll be able to turn it to remove tension from the belt.
It might be worth gettting a 1730 or even a 1740 belt to make fitting a bit easier.
Once you've got it home, if the auto tensioner was hard to pivot then it needs replacing, and most likely so will the spring tensioner which you can see behind the hydraulic pump.
The bottom eye of the spring gets worn away.

[froggy]

Probably a sill question, but how do I move the auto tensioner clockwise, so I can fit the belt. The belt had snapped !
cheers Terry

[jgra1]

I did mine a few days ago Terry.

you need to remove ECU and box as Xac says..wheel off and wheel arch liner out of way as said earlier.. then get a 3/8 drive (and long bar) into the square hole in tensioner and twist clockwise, if the tensioner is still in good order then it should move away from the belt.. as said insert a small drill bit or similar into the little hole in the tensoiner and that will lock it mostly untensioned..
mirror on a stick is useful to see whats what..before you start

make sure the 3/8 is a good fit, as far in as will go otherwise it will just round and fall out..

if your tensioner is collapsed, or siezed - then you need to remove it completely.. for this I recommend engine mount off, jack under sump and either lower or riase engine to get tensioner off car..
note the lower allen bolt holding tensioner to spring (behind/under Hyd pump) is a large git..

the most time consuming part of job..

John

My car had a 1730mm belt on, and I think it was too tight and collapsed my tensioer.. i put a 1735 on instead.. depends on what AC pump you have..

[Xaccers]

To remove the tensioner from the spring behind the pump the easiest way is to chop an inch and a half off the end of a 6mm allen key, and get yourself a 6mm ratchet spanner. I'm sure its 6mm.
The inner race of the tensioner can seperate and get stuck in the side of the engine, this makes it nigh impossible to get the tensioner out due to the side of the inner wing.
With the engine mount off you may be able to push it down far enough to get the tensioner off the race to then be able to beat the race up and try and get it out.
If you're going to need to do the cambelt any time soon, combine the job.

[froggy]

Iam trying to see where the 3/8 bar fits to more the tensioner ! just below the pulley their is the small hole for the bolt, then underneath that is a larger hole, tried fitting the bar in it but it seems round not square ! my bar pushes straight through ! sorry for the dumb question . also the pulley lower down , manual adjustment, the lower of the two bolts is seized, maybe heat it up ?

[jgra1]

from memory the square hole is mid tensioner height and towards the back of car.. maybe it has been rounded.. you got no mirror froggy?

[Xaccers]

Get the ecu box out the way, look down between the auto tensioner pulley and the hydraulic pump, you'll see a tab with a square hole, recessed by about an inch.
I have a small breaker bar with a floppy head which can get into the square hole at an angle.
I've also used a pair of size adaptors (best to go large, then back to 3/8) as they were about long enough to reach with a ratchet.
You need to turn the bar/ratchet clockwise as you look face on to the tensioner (so standing by the O/S wheel looking towards the gearbox).
As you turn it, the roller is lifted up off the belt.

For the eccentric tensioner, it's an 8mm allen key needed on the bolt, slacken it enough to let the tensioner wobble.
Align the belt on everything but the eccentric, leave it against the side of the roller, then turn the auto tensioner to release the tension, and pull the belt onto the eccentric.