Real life pic of correct tensioner adjustment (TBelt)

[Andrei Rinea]

Introduction:

110 kkm
Bought 2nd hand 94 Passat TDI, changed (some idiot mechanic did it) TB only (tensioner was not)

118 kkm
Crank shaft wheel got loose and allowed the TB to skip 1 tooth. Car become shtty to start. Good mechanic changed the TB, tensioner, new crankshaft pinion (toothed wheel), crank shaft re-leveled (it became rounded-like).
Car did not have one problem since then

137 kkm = present
No problems. Not even at -17 C degrees the car starts well. Just my concern if the mechanic did adjust the timing belt tensioner correctly since I can't remember that and can't track him yet.

I will take off the upper cover of the timing belt and look at the tensioner to be correctly adjusted. I have seen the drawing from the manual on how it should look if correctly adjusted but

I NEED A REAL LIFE PIC ON HOW IT SHOULD LOOK because it is easier to compare with the reality.

If it_is_ok_adjusted then end_of_story
else what should I do? Can the tensioner be adjusted correctly without messing the whole TB? (I mean without re-changing the belt and all of that stuff?)

TNX!!!

 

[Drivbiwire]

DB

 

[car54]

great pic pete.

 

[Andrei Rinea]

Incredibly useful pic Pete!
Thank you very much... I hoped for a good pic but I never expect so well.
Thanks again!

 

[runonbeer]

So the A4 and A3 tensioners are the same eh?
I was wandering around in my garage and decided to pick up the old tensioner from the last belt I changed; it had a huge crack on the back side of it. Hmmmm.

 

[RogueTDI]

Maybe just a typo. I am pretty sure first TDI was 1996, at least in US.

 

[Andrei Rinea]

I went in there today (10 min ago) and checked it. It is almost the same as in the picture but not exactly... let's say that as you watch the pic, the excentric (the thing that you turn using the wrench in the pic) is rotated clockwise 30 degrees. (as seen on pic)

Also tested the tension of the belt with my finger at the middle of the distance between pump sprocket and cam sprocket. The belt would be pushed only 2-3 mm (as I could see, no ruler measurement).

THE QUESTIONS:

1) What do you think? Is it ok to leave it the way it is? I think so but I need an expert opinion.
I really lean towards leaving it this way.

2) How can you tell if the belt would be too tight?

 

[MITBeta]

Andrei:

You want to pay close attention to this area of the photo:

The circled region shows how the inner ring has a notch in it, and the outer ring has a tab in it. When the tensioner is properly set, the tab and the notch will be in alignment.

I don't believe it matters what the overall orientation of the tensioner is, as long as the above condition is satisfied.

 

[Andrei Rinea]

Ok, MITBeta, I understood the part with the notch and tab.
My question now is: supposing it is not correctly set... can it be set well after? Without the whole hassle of TB change? and if yes how / with what tool? the tool in the pic?

---

meanwhile (as I was typing the above) on the chat dbw told me it is quite simple... "loosen the tensioner relax the tension and then retighten it" he said.

Guess my mechanic should handle that.. still not that courageous to do it myself (risks of timing belt...) although I am pretty good with mechanical skills... I took a screwdriver in my hands at the age of 3-4 years

 

[MOGolf]

Yes, it can be retensioned by loosening the nut and using the tool reset it, then tighten the nut. You should have the pins of the tool in the tensioner before loosening the nut.

Metalnerd has a new tool that clears the engine mount better than the tool pictured.

 

[MITBeta]

Metalnerd's site is here:

http://www.charterpa.net/cmeglio/metalnerd

One can also use a pair of allen wrenches, short ends stuck into the holes of the tensioner, long ends crossed, in a pinch...

 

[Andrei Rinea]

Final update:
The tensioner is 20 degrees rotated clockwise compared to this one but the white-circled region by MITBeta (the notch and the tab) are CORRECTLY SET already !!!