citronut wrote:i dont release the excentric adjuster,
there is a 3/8th drive hole in the body of the auto adjuster for putting a tool in topull the adjuster off, also a small peg hole to place a locking pin whilst you hold the tensioner fully off,
you gain better access by removeing the engine top mout and jacking the engine up,
regards malcolm
That's how I do it, but don't need the locking pin.
So, remove the ECU box and flop the ECU etc up by the strut top out the way, unclip the black pipe that runs up the back edge of the ECU box bay (you have to gently pull it's pip out of a hole then slide it up and yank), get a jack under the sump, remove the engine mount bridge that side, jack the engine up a bit, then I use a breaker bar with a swivel head that fits in the square hole of the auto adjuster perfectly, lever it down using the edge of the ECU box bay as a fulcrum and it moves easy enough to get the belt on/off the eccentric (or even the hydraulic pump).
With the wheel off, and shields out the way, the roller you can see behind the large coolant pipe is the eccentric, with a hex bolt holding it on and a square hole next to it.
The auto tensioner is above it, best accessed from the top/side with the ECU box out the way.
If you don't know the history of the car, it may be worth replacing the auto tensioner and spring. If the tensioner is difficult to rotate then it's needle rollers are probably dead and it definitely needs replacing along with the spring.
Replacing it requires the engine to be lifted and lowered to get access to everything.
Also the allen bolt that keeps the lower spring eye to the tensioner is a PITA due to poor access.
I believe we made up a tool of a ratchet spanner with an allen bit secured in it.
You need about 8 arms to hold it all in place, tighten the bolts, and hold the torch. And a magnet to retrieve any dropped bits.
Worth doing though, you do not want that tensioner failing!
To tension the aux belt it's easy, you slacken the hex bolt holding the eccentric roller so it is free to rotate, and just release the auto tensioner against the belt. Then tighten the eccentric.
If you're going to be replacing the cam belt tensioner, you'll need someone with a long screwdriver or bar to push the plunger back in.
If you look up from below at the tensioner you'll see what I mean.
The covers can be difficult, the fuel pump particularly. Leave it until last, it makes manouvering it easier. Also remove the hydraulic pump bolt just in front of the cover.
Make sure your replacement water pump has a metal sheild section on the sprocket side.
Get a large bowl, like one of those cheap under bed storage trays, under the car and drain it by slowly removing the water pump.
Then remove the water pipe that runs across the pulleys as this will give you better access to the turbo.
Why did Citroen get rid of the nice little clips!! Talk about making the job harder. After severe scuffed knuckles, twisted back and ever spiralling temper, I thought taking the aux belt off would be light relief - but must be the auto adjuster version as no sign of an adjuster nut next to the crankshaft pulley! Haynes made no sense at all in terms of releasing this, and I couldn't even access what looked like a 19mm pulley hub bolt that I could just see, By this time I had the O/S front wheel off - the engine mount off and half the turbo trunking! This job took me a few hours on the Xsara DW8 - things seemed so inaccessible on the Xant TD!!
That bolt is such a pain. It's so tight behind the turbo pipe.. 
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