MAZDA 929 Timing Belt problems

that's a V6 right? I've never worked on one but according to Chilton's Import Car manual for

Are you aware that to load the tensioner when installing a replacement belt that you need a 2000 lb press? Or so it says here.

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------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage:

here's what it says about the 2000 lb ...

first remove the tensioner from the engine

"to load the tensioner, place a flat washer on the bottom of the tensioner to prevent damage to the body. Press the rod into the tensioner body using an arbor press or vice. Do not use more than

It says wait until the belt is installed and aligned before removing the pin. Rotate crankshaft twice in the normal direction and check that all the timing marks are still aligned. Then you can pull the pin. :)

It says the belt deflection should be 0.20 - 0.28 inches between either camshaft and lower idler pulley. It says if the deflection is not right suspect bad tensioner or stretched belt.

Hope that helps.

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------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage:

Hi William, Yep, know about tensioner and it's actually being replaced. The timing mark problem is still a problem. The pivoting idler wheel, the one that the tensioner presses against, is the part that failed. It was frozen in place and never really pushed much on the timing belt. This caused the belt to move around, shred itself and eventually it caused a few teeth of skip. I cranked the engine over by hand to see if anything lined up. The camshafts did, both markers were lined up OK. The bottom just didn't seem to line up with anything I could see. I know about the pointer cast in the block, it's the damn gear teeth that have me going blind. All I can see is a POSSIBLE tiny tiny groove in the gear tooth that lines up with the small locating stud in the crankshaft. This locating stud is used to line up the pulley and the vibration damper. I'm going to make a leap of faith and line this up and put a belt on the thing and crank by hand to see if every thing turns free. Don't really know anything else to try. And yes, it is a V6, a SOHC version of the engine. I've used a vise to do the tensioner deal before, it really is a PIA and usually the thing fails shortly afterwards so I'm going new this time. Thanks For the reply.