How can I diagnose a faulty timing belt tensioner? I hate throwing parts at a project 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