Timing belt tensioner pulley hole location

[MattO]

Hope everyone's Friday night is going better than mine!

Here's what I got...

I've been working on replacing the water pump, timing belt, tensioner pulley, auto tensioner, idle pulley, and crank pulley for two weeks now on my 96 AWD TSi.

I have the tension set properly to the "5/32 drill bit" but the holes on the tensioner pulley are at 7 and 4. Do they need to be at 11 and 2 for other reasons (dynamics, mechanical, balance, longevity)? I've tried to get the holes at 11 and 2 but the auto tensioner is completely recessed in the body if I set the holes there. Additionally it looks like the pulley will rub on the water pump housing if the holes are at 11 and 2.

I'm using all Mitsu OEM parts from Conicelli.

I searched and found various ideas. Some are more concerned with belt tension vs. hole location. The VFAQ for the process shows the holes on top.

Any ideas? Thanks. MattO

 

[jozyxp]

your right set them at 7and 4

 

[JusMX141]

I hate reviving old threads like this, but I need some input on this situation myself.

When changing the timing belt on my buddy's 1995 TSi AWD, we're in a situation where the two holes in the timing belt tensioner pulley are aligned at 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock, but the pulley cannot come any further loose because it's practically up against the water pump.

The belt is on and properly tensioned, I just don't want to have issues with the ridge on the pulley rubbing the water pump.

The VFAQ on the 2G timing belt replacement is worthless. It's given us decent advise, but overall the pictures and diagrams are horrible. Half are robbed from 1G posts and offer no visual aid for a 2G owner.

The strange thing is that this is almost the exact same place the pulley was at when we removed the old timing belt. We've barely moved the offset tensioner adjustment at all.

If it doesn't seem to rub, will everything be OK? I don't want to have something go wrong and destroy his motor. This is all new to me; I'm a 1G 6-bolt guy!

So all you 1995 4G63-owners out there....help! How are the holes in your tensioner pulley oriented?

**I'll try to post pics when I get home later**

 

[steve]

The holes are above the bolt on 1Gs and below on 2Gs from what I can tell. That means you rotate the pulley clockwise on a 1G to apply tension to the belt and counterclockwise in the 2G.

Steve

 

[housegsx]

Yes, the 2 hole should be towards the bottom when loose. Then put a pair of 90 degree pliers in the holes from underneath and rotate the pulley counter-clockwise.

 

[JusMX141]

Great. Thanks for the input, guys!

It seems the previous owner must've set the pulley alignment up as if it was a 1G....I could tell something wasn't right. Never trust the alignment of the parts you remove!

Car should be back on the road by the weekend...all I need now is time!

 

[JusMX141]

Pics, as promised:

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff165/jusmx141/timing1.jpg
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff165/jusmx141/timing2.jpg
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff165/jusmx141/timing3.jpg

You can see just how close the tensioner pulley is to the water pump in the second pic!

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Also, for future reference:

There is a difference between the 1g tensioner pulley vs. the 2g pulley. One is stepped slightly higher than the other.

1g - tension by rotating pulley clockwise
2g - tension by rotation pulley counter-clockwise

Tensioning clockwise or counterclockwise is not dependent of the type of engine you have, but rather the type of tensioner ARM you have. Of course stock 6 bolts will usually have the 1g arm and 7 bolts will usually have the 2g arm; but 6 bolt swapped 2g's will usually use a 1g tensioner arm with a 2g bracket. In this case, rotate CLOCKWISE to tension the belt and use a 1g pulley.

Judging by the above picture, that is a 6 bolt in a 2g, hence why the pulley is 'up' and close to the water pump. Chances are the water pump bolt is also filed down.

 

[JusMX141]

Definetly NOT a 6-bolt....still the original 7-bolt from 1995 with 134k on it (you can tell by looking at the intake cam gear with the disc for the cam sensor in the 3rd pic.) I've worked on 6-bolts for years and never came across this issue.

The previous owner either installed it wrong himself, or had a shop do it and they installed it wrong as well. It worked for quite some time....the current owner has put about 30k on the car and never touched the timing belt.

We installed it with the holes in the pulley at 4- and 7-o'clock and it worked perfectly. I knew it had to be wrong....as it was, the tensioner arm couldn't possibly get loose enough to allow easy installation of the belt- it had to be forced on. Even with the belt tension properly set and the auto tensioner meaured properly, the pulley still dragged against the water pump enough to groove it.

Once the pulley was flipped to the proper direction, installation was painless!

 

[steve]

Once the pulley was flipped to the proper direction, installation was painless!

Thanks for confirming that.

Steve