V6 aux belt tension

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 24 Jan 2009, 21:43

The aux belt on the Xantia seems a bit loose but there seems to be no way of adjusting it, as the tensioner is fully automatic. The tension spring appears to be the only thing that keeps it tight. A new spring is £60. Anyone know if there is another way to tighten it up a bit?

ekaftan · Unread post by **ekaftan** » 24 Jan 2009, 21:48

Stempy wrote:The aux belt on the Xantia seems a bit loose but there seems to be no way of adjusting it, as the tensioner is fully automatic. The tension spring appears to be the only thing that keeps it tight. A new spring is £60. Anyone know if there is another way to tighten it up a bit?

Change the belt. If its too loose its either the wrong belt of the tensioner's travel is all used up.

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 24 Jan 2009, 21:54

I suppose that would be a sensible place to start but the belt is not very old, well when I say not very old I mean 20k miles, how often should they be changed?

ekaftan · Unread post by **ekaftan** » 24 Jan 2009, 22:15

Stempy wrote:I suppose that would be a sensible place to start but the belt is not very old, well when I say not very old I mean 20k miles, how often should they be changed?

I've never trusted mileage for belts or hoses. I just replace them when they look glazed or cracked.

They should last two years minimum. Maybe four years max.

Mandrake · Unread post by **Mandrake** » 25 Jan 2009, 08:06

Stempy wrote:I suppose that would be a sensible place to start but the belt is not very old, well when I say not very old I mean 20k miles, how often should they be changed?

There are many different lengths of belt for different engine variations some differing by as little as 20mm, if the length is wrong the automatic tensioner may be near one end of it's adjustment limit.

It seems very unlikely to me that the spring would be faulty, it's more likely a previous owner has fitted the wrong length belt...

Regards,
Simon

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 25 Jan 2009, 08:23

I'm with the belt being a tad too long as well although it's worth giving the tensioner a good look at. It works on much the same principle as the 1.9/2.1TD and might be suffering from the same problems as they do after a time..

Here is how to set it up:

Easier than a 1.9/2.1TD

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 25 Jan 2009, 10:05

Mandrake wrote:
Stempy wrote:I suppose that would be a sensible place to start but the belt is not very old, well when I say not very old I mean 20k miles, how often should they be changed?
There are many different lengths of belt for different engine variations some differing by as little as 20mm, if the length is wrong the automatic tensioner may be near one end of it's adjustment limit.

It seems very unlikely to me that the spring would be faulty, it's more likely a previous owner has fitted the wrong length belt...

Regards,
Simon

Thing is I fitted the belt and a new tensioner roller but 20k miles ago, both came from a Citroen dealer, so I would have thought that the belt was the right length. Do you have the spec on belt length for the V6? I think I will replace the belt, but I'd like to be sure of getting it right before forking out.

Thanks for the info Jim, that picture is very useful, could have done with it when I replaced the belt last time as I neglected to make a note of the route and it ended up taking a while to figure it out. I've saved it to my useful Xantia pictures folder.

jgra1 · Unread post by **jgra1** » 25 Jan 2009, 10:32

there's my belt here Stempy

(as part of the 406 blog, which needs tidying)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2fj8MH_LeQ0/S ... iler+1.jpg

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 25 Jan 2009, 11:32

Very nice, but have you measured it?

Stempy · Unread post by **Stempy** » 25 Jan 2009, 22:33

Just an update, but depending on which supplier you ask there are two lengths being quoted, 1632mm and 1622mm, maybe I've got a long one!

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V6 aux belt tension

V6 aux belt tension

Re: V6 aux belt tension