peace_of_soul
Well-known member
If you'd like to skip the back story and the realization of the cold hard truth that has dawned upon us, the question is in bold at the end.
After replacing the A/C compressor this summer, cleaning the intake manifold (so clogged the car could barely get into second gear without serious babying; it's MUCH better now), replacing the rear brakes (hint: never let a weekend warrior with $25 total in tools and a Ford Focus "help" you with anything), and replacing the dual mass clutch with a single mass, we are learning a lot more about the car than we ever realized we want to. Strangely enough, it's actually been a great adventure, and well worth doing. It's a good thing to look under the hood of a car, be able to identify things, and not be intimidated to have a go at making repairs.
All that said . . . we had to replace the serp tensioner, a project we undertook about a week and a half ago, while we had "Ella" torn apart for the intake manifold cleaning. The weather has gotten substantially colder, and we're running into an issue with the tensioner. Is there only one way to install the tensioner or is it possible to do it multiple ways, but wrong? For whatever reason, the plastic tensioner that is supposed to rest on the belt and, shocker , give it tension, is not really anywhere near the belt. Were we supposed to adjust the tensioner when it arrived to get it at the right angle or did we perhaps put in the three bolts wrong?
Looking forward to the sage advice, as always.
Eric and Alison
After replacing the A/C compressor this summer, cleaning the intake manifold (so clogged the car could barely get into second gear without serious babying; it's MUCH better now), replacing the rear brakes (hint: never let a weekend warrior with $25 total in tools and a Ford Focus "help" you with anything), and replacing the dual mass clutch with a single mass, we are learning a lot more about the car than we ever realized we want to. Strangely enough, it's actually been a great adventure, and well worth doing. It's a good thing to look under the hood of a car, be able to identify things, and not be intimidated to have a go at making repairs.
All that said . . . we had to replace the serp tensioner, a project we undertook about a week and a half ago, while we had "Ella" torn apart for the intake manifold cleaning. The weather has gotten substantially colder, and we're running into an issue with the tensioner. Is there only one way to install the tensioner or is it possible to do it multiple ways, but wrong? For whatever reason, the plastic tensioner that is supposed to rest on the belt and, shocker , give it tension, is not really anywhere near the belt. Were we supposed to adjust the tensioner when it arrived to get it at the right angle or did we perhaps put in the three bolts wrong?
Looking forward to the sage advice, as always.
Eric and Alison