MiGi

I've just changed the cam belt on my MY00 sti6. I have been told by the company who sold the cam belt that the tensioner needs changing aswell but they couldnt give me a good reason for this. At £150 for a tensioner I am reluctant to change it unless it needs changing. What is the deal with this? Is there a fault or is it just a myth? Before anyone askes I reset the tensioner before i refitted it and checked it over and it seems fine. help please

cheers

Mike

clarky1982

did my cam belt yesterday, it says in the servce manual that unless its leaking damaged or showing signs of wear they can be reused. i used mine again

206CC

The cam belt tensioners are a problem.. If there is any sign off oil leakage from round the piston then it must be changed..
Yes they are relatively expensive but a failure could cause catastrophic engine damage..

An IM internal service bulletin issued in July 2002 states this..

The part numbers for the revised tensioners on the Forester, Legacy, Impreza are:

SOHC: 572570

DOHC: 572928

The revised tensioners have a Green paint dot applied to the pulley bolt.. Wheras the old ones have a Blue paint dot..

But that does not say that the newer ones don't fail.. I have had to replace a few of the Green ones due to leakage..

The important thing to note is that when you compress the piston in, is that you must NOT allow any lateral force to be exerted on the piston rod.. That means that it must be compressed straight into the piston.. Failure to do that may cause the seals to be damaged, then you will have a defective tensioner..

The service manual states:

1: Always use a vertical type pressing tool to move the adjuster rod down.
2: Do not use a lateral type vice
3: Push adjuster rod vertically.
4: Be sure to slowly move the adjuster rod down applying a pressure of 294 N (30kgf, 66lb).
5: Press-in the push adjuster rod gradually, taking more than three minutes
6: Press the adjuster rod as far as the end surface of the cylinder. Do not press the adjuster rod into the cylinder, doing so will damage the cylinder.
7: Do not release the pressure until the stopper pin is completely insterted

Thats about it..

Scooby Dealer Tech

ringtingting

what is the prefered method to getting the old belt and tensioner off?.

a garage near me said that he just cuts the old belt. another garage I asked said he either just pulls the tensioner side to release pressure and just pulls it off or he removes an idler.

neither used any form of cam locking tool , saying the cam just spins but does not damage anything

MiGi

Thanks for that, I had no problems with leakage on mine and compressed it using a similar method to that described so it shoud be ok. As for getting the old belt off........This was a guess at the time but it worked........each cam pulley had a "II" mark on it, if you turn the engine so these line up with each other on either side of the engine and you then remove the cambelt nothing moves (if ur carefull). Thing is each pully also has a "I" mark and these can be made to line up aswell. I havent got a clue what either of these marks are actually used....someone please correct me...if ive gone wrong.

206CC

I normally remove the lower left idler Pulley 1st then the Tensioner, finally the lower right toothed idler pulley..

When refitting its tensioner , right "toothed" idler, finally the lower left idler.. Then pull the tensioner pin out...

Before you refit the belt, spin all the idlers and make sure they run smooth.. Especially the small upper right hand one, it has a tendancy to collapse..

Dealer Scooby Tech