Timing belt / tensioner quandary

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Burnerman

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Right then.....Mazda Bongo, 1995, 2.5 turbo diesel, as per the older Ford Ranger. It's been to the moon and back, twice.
Time to change the timing belt again at around 70k.......new belt, tensioner and spring. The water pump is driven by other belts.
Old belt off, no evident wear. Tensioner spins beautifully, no play, no whirring, nowt.
New tensioner and I can feel slight play - nothing serious but it's definitely noticeable....spinning the thing and it's quiet enough off load.
So.....what's best to do? Leave the old one, or fit the new just for the hell of it? The new belt has Bilstein marked on it - suspension people of note if I remember. The tensioner has no markings.
I have to say, the belt hasn't a difficult route - no reversing and so on.
Suggestions?
John :)
 
Hi John

I have the same quandary with XUD/Hdi tensioners, I have a complete kit coming with a water pump but the tensioner and idler on the car look of better quality, I have never had an original fail in about half a million miles of 2.1 XUD (XM) driving and the Hdi set up looks pretty well the same. It only seems to be the plastic ones that fail, mine are all metal.

Peter
 
It sounds like you are coming to the same decision as me Peter......leave the old one be?
Let's hope your new water pump doesn't have a plastic impeller!
John :)
 
I understand what your both saying but personally i could not leave an old tensioner in place. I used to take the same attitude with water pumps, but one too many starting to leak with the new belt tension on it led to changes every time.
Its a critical part so id probably look to seek advice from the supplier, if like me you always go for a gates kit or similar then the quality should be second to none.
 
I've had a metal one fail. While back on a VW Passat. Seized solid, and only came to light when I changed the belt. Lucky!
Having said that, if it was for myself I'd probably be tempted to use the better one of the two. For someone else. Use the new one I reckon as it's the "right" thing to do.
As we said elsewhere, modern bearings can be very iffy quality.
Can you bung the part back at the suppliers John?
 
I never used to change the water pump as a matter of course until I changed the belt on an XM, the pump failed about 3k later, I replaced the pump and the belt again and about another 3k later the head gasket went, so it had three new belts in 6000 miles!

John

The kit is coming from GSF, not the cheapest but at least i know them and, yes, it does have a metal impeller. :D

Peter
 
Interesting discussion gents! 8)
My belt has taken on a new slant....I noticed this morning that the new belt had two teeth too many, and the tensioner was 3mm smaller in diameter :shock: Obviously incorrect so back it goes.
Anyway, my motor factor was able to get a kit for me ( the original kit was ebay) and this one is Blueprint so I'm well happy there. The tensioner is marked NTN Japan so that'll do me.
£56.62 vat extra.....pricey but I guess they aren't in high demand.
Job for next week.....after I have renewed the camshaft oil seal with the help of a mirror :shock: oh joy!
John :)
 
I'm glad I don't do your job for a living John, I have enough problems with our and my sons cars - plus one or two people that I casually say to 'that's not to bad a job'. :roll:

Peter
 
I don't do a great deal of mechanical stuff these days, Peter......age creeping on etc!
This vehicle belongs to an ex next door neighbour and I always go the extra mile for him as he is caring for his severely disabled daughter during the day.
Interesting vehicle in its own way.....Jap import, full time 4x4, automatic, mid engine in the cab and so on.
It's owned by an Aussie, left with the neighbour to use. Aussie is coming over to Blighty in April, and is off to Albania in the Bongo.
Takes all sorts!
Hope your timing belt goes well.
John :)
 
I have run only PSA vehicles for so long now John that I wouldn't know what to do with anything else. I'm OK on hydropnumatic suspension but nothing much else uses it. PSA diesels I am fairly well up on - pre 2004, I wouldn't know what to do with a modern one.

Peter
 
So.....what's best to do? Leave the old one, or fit the new just for the hell of it?
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To be honest John at times like that there is always possibility for regrets.

Leave it and it fails you regret not changing it, change it and it fails then again regrets, catch 22 situation.

What would I do? Feel like tossing a coin - and then change it!
 
The thing is Alan, I'm sick to death with some of the rubbish that comes out of the Orient.....maybe its a cause for dealer parts only :shock:
I've bought new bearings from ebay suppliers before, and quite honestly the packaging was better quality than the bearing :P so now its only SKF or FAG stuff now.
I'm completely happy with my Blueprint purchase now though....thats going on. Eventually :P
John :)
 
Peter.N. said:
I have run only PSA vehicles for so long now John that I wouldn't know what to do with anything else. I'm OK on hydropnumatic suspension but nothing much else uses it. PSA diesels I am fairly well up on - pre 2004, I wouldn't know what to do with a modern one.

Peter
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I thought the hydropneumatic suspension / braking systems were absolutely superb.
Rusty pipes aside they were generally owner serviceable (if you could undo the spheres) and their performance in all areas was second to none.
Have they all disappeared now?
John :)
 
No, my C5 still has it John but the late ones only have it on the Exclusive, they all had it up to about 08 when the new shape came out. I have a brilliant sphere removal tool, there is a chap on ebay makes them to order for about £12 I think, its a ring that fits over the sphere with a couple of bolts you can screw in the grip it, it grips so tight and is strong enough that you can hit the handle with a hammer and it will undo the most stubborn spheres.

I used a home made strap wrench for many years and must have changed at leas 50 or 60 spheres over that time. My wrench was made with a length of motorbike chain with a big nut slid over it and on to that I welded a large bolt, about 21mm I think it is, so I could use a longer breaker bar with the appropriate socket. That would eventually get them undone but sometimes the chain would slip and of course the whole thing had a certain amount of give in it so you couldn't get the appropriate amount of shock to loosen them, you relied on leverage which sometimes bent things.

I had to get a different one for the C5 because the spheres are a larger diameter and only have a very narrow flat area around the middle. I wish I had got one of the new type for the XMs, it would have saved me hours and a lot of bruised knuckles. :shock:

Peter
 
Peter.N. said:
I'm glad I don't do your job for a living John, I have enough problems with our and my sons cars - plus one or two people that I casually say to 'that's not to bad a job'. :rolleyes:

Peter
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