auxiliary drivebelt

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davethewheel
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auxiliary drivebelt

Post by davethewheel »

hi all, i need to replace the tensioner pulley on my Xantia which seems to be a straight forward job apart from the haynes manual suggests that the belt has to be set by a special electronic tool to tension the belt,has any one done this without this tool cheers dave
alan s
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Post by alan s »

Dave,
I suspect you are talking about the tensioner on the timing belt? if so I have no doubt that Haynes is talking about a Seems tester (they usually do) which although is probably "doing it by the book" has a few flaws not the least of which from what I've seen & heard, would be either finding one or finding one that still works and someone who knows how to operate it.
I personally think these things are Haynes' way of avoiding litigation if some dumb dumb manages to incorrectly fit a belt or gets a faulty one & then decides to blame Haynes for the damage. By suggesting this it means you trot it along to your local Cit repairer who takes a look, tells you he's used a Seems on it & charges you as if he has. A polite way of passing the buck and staying on side with the trade.
I would suggest that presuming we are talking cambelts, to treat it as a cam belt replacement job, details of which you should be able to find in common problems & fixes on this forum. If you have shot a cambelt it would be advisable to think seriously about replacing the water pump if it hasn't been done in the past 50K klms and definitely the belt in case it has been damaged as a result of tensioner damage.
On a BX 16V, it is essential that the tensioners are turned in an anti-clockwise direction when setting the tension, plugs removed to set the timing correctly and stepped pins to retain the camshafts and crank when setting it up.
The rest of the job isn't rocket science; just common sense. There have been a lot of recent postings telling how even when the odd Seems has been found, experienced mechanics still set the belts by hand in preference to using them. They are more psychosematic than necessary.
Alan S
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