91 Laser 2.0L timing belt tensioner

How can I diagnose a faulty timing belt tensioner? I hate throwing parts at a project and hoping for the best.

I just installed a new silent shaft belt and timing belt. The rear silent shaft is in phase. I've got .156" (5/32" drill bit) clearance between the tensioner body and the tensioner arm - when cylinder #1 is at TDC and all the marks are lined up.

My trouble is, when I rotate the crank away from TDC the tensioner piston strokes downward and my clearance gets much smaller. The timing belt loses some tension between the cam sprockets.

At first I thought one of the sprockets or pulleys might be bent/wobbling. I can't find any runout though.

The tensioner isn't leaking oil and I compressed it slowly to insert a small allen wrench in the reset holes. It did require substantial force to compress it.

Any thoughts?

Regards, Brent

Reply to
Brent
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"Brent" wrote

It's been a while since I've worked on these engines but it was always our policy to replace the belt tensioner....no questions asked....as it was the reason that so many of these engines got damaged from the belts jumping.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_Kai

Never - Never - Never replace a Mitsu timing belt without replacing the tensioner.

Larry

Brent wrote:

Reply to
Larry Webb

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