3.2 cam belt tensioner....

[Off Road SHO]

The reason they used a spring is to keep a constant tension on the belt during its periods of little slack/ lot of slack. The more times the valve springs are compressed per second, the more tension is put on the belt by the crank sprocket to turn the upper sprockets. As you vary rpm's, the tension is going up and down. The spring keeps the right amount of tension no matter what.

With your set length system, you will just have to keep a constant watch on it, that's all.

Tom

 

[95ss]

Tom, thanks for the explanation.....so by doing this they were able to extend the interval and life of the belt? ergo....if check the tension at 40k or even 20k then I would adjust as required? Heck that works for me! now i need to figure how to set the tension correctly.
Thanks for the help.
Rick

 

[pjtoledo]

The tensioner is for the "slack" side of the belt, that is from the bottom sprocket to the upper sprocket nearest the firewall. The front side is always tight and is not adjustable.

The great thing about the 3.2 adjuster is its constant tension controlled by a hydraulically dampened spring. A lot of the newer cars do it this way. One problem with it the ease of which it can be installed wrong. The tensioner driven pulley must be rotated into the belt snugly, BEFORE you release the spring. The short "throw" of the tensioner needs to start against a firm belt, not a loose one. I have the special tool that attaches to an inch*ounce torque wrench, but alas, no torque wrench that small. If you have a wrench that small, I can tell you how to make one of the attachments if you have a shop.

Tom

thats a really small torque value, can't say I ever saw one that small. my smallest is a 0-60 in-lbs, it's for bicycles.
what does your attachment look like?
would a Kriket suffice?

Perry

 

[Off Road SHO]

Perry,

The Rotunda tool looks like a crow foot wrench that fits 1/4" drive ratchets. Instead of a squared off jaw it has a "Y" jaw that has a pin in each of the two upper parts of the Y. The pins line up with two holes in the tensioner arm.

The idea is to use the mini torque wrench to pre-rotate the the tensioner's pulley against the belt to a certain amount of tension, before you pull the allen wrench out of the keeper holes, releasing the spring.

If you can grind the hardness off of a small crow foot and drill two precise holes and insert a couple of drill bit shanks, and weld them in there, you can make your own.

Or you can just push in on the pulley arm by hand, snug up the bolt and Release the Krackens!

I can take a pic of it and post it tomorrow if you need to see it up close.

Tom

 

[pjtoledo]

OK, I get the picture now. I was envisioning a device that read the belt deflection/tension, not the pre-load of the adjusting pulley.


Perry