Timing belt tensioner alignment

AKAvant

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I'm finishing up a timing belt job and I can't get the tensioner to stay aligned correctly. I turned the tensioner counter clockwise to line up the notches but once I turn the engine over a few times the notches move apart. Specifically the inner notch moves clockwise. The Bentley says I need to turn the inner notch clockwise to align it but I don't see how this would work, since that would have meant turning the inner race/notch almost 360 degrees to align it with the other notch.
Is this slight movement normal or is the tensioner faulty?
 

AKAvant

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I watched the tensioner as I turned the engine by hand. The outer race of the tensioner would almost "catch" and move counter clockwise before springing back into position. It was like it was following the rotation direction of the belt. It would do this at least a couple times a rotation and it almost seemed like I could feel it in the rotation. What's going on here?
 

TurbineWhine

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You have several vehicals listed in your sig. Which one are you working on? Also, the tensioner is to be tensioned in a clockwise direction not counter-clockwise. That is probably the root of your issues. Basically, you have tensioned the system incorrectly. I have seen that before and some have gotten away with it for thousands of miles. Tension it in a clockwise direction. It probably has not been damaged yet. When we find this on an engine with many miles, we require the customer to replace the tensioner due to the uncertainty of properly tensioning an incorrectly tensioned tensioner with a lot of miles on it.

TW
 
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AKAvant

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It's on a 1z, and yeah it looks like I need to tension it clockwise, thanks!
 

PeterV

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There was a recent instance of a backwards it is a very expensive error...
 

AKAvant

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So I redid the tensioner correctly and as I turn the engine by hand the outer race of the tensioner moves slightly back and forth depending on where the engine is in its strokes. Basically if a cylinder is on an upward stroke and the tension on the belt increases the tensioner also moves a little. Is this normal?
 

AKAvant

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I changed out the tensioner on my AHU Jetta too just to be safe. It only had 2k miles on it but I'm playing it safe. Never too old to learn right?:/
 

rdkern

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Probably a good move. It's worth it for peace of mind if nothing else.
 
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