Big Dave

The cleaning process continues, albeit slowly. I have to scrape the grime off, the scrub, the wipe, then repeat eleventybillion times to get stuff clean. It's time-consuming, but continually gratifying.

First, a little before and after. Not completely clean, but well on its way.

Next, a pic of my tensioner....anything look wrong to you?

Third, my oil pump gear....poster child for the over-tight belt: shiny and dished.

Fourth, my crank gear....opinions on reusing it?

Imo000

Both of the gears are too worn.The crankshaft gear is less worn casue it's made of steel. In any case, replace both with either new ones or good used ones. It's hard to tell from the angle, but the tensioner looks ok. It just needs the basic rebuild kit (gaskets and seals).

I hope this helps!

Jim_H

OY! Does your crank gear actually have a ridge on the left side?

Bill Ball

Can't tell about the crank gear - pic is out of focus and dark, but that oil pump gear is a classic. Carry on, Big Dave!

SharkSkin

If that apparent ridge 2-3mm in from the left edge of the gear is simply a minor difference in surface finish, you should be fine. If it's as bad as it seems from the pic, use it for a paperweight(or send it to me and I will ) My impression -- based on many decades of experience taking blurry pics -- is that you've got quite a ridge on there. As Bill said though, it's not easy to tell from the pic.

Big Dave

I know the oil pump gear is gone. Probably the crank gear,too. I'll try to get a better picture.

My question about the tensioner relates to the opening where the spring is. Is the tensioner a sealed unit so that oil cannot spill out of the rubber boot?

Jim_H

Dave,

This pic might help. The new rubber will seal it.



Edit:
Not trying to get too technical on you here. When you put the rubber thingy over the push rod thingy you will put a keeper ring thingy on the rod thingy to seal it. If you look close at my push rod thingy you can still see the keeper thingy. HTH

Big Dave

That raises a big question. Is the tensioner from a 90/91 the same as from an '85? My "push rod thingy" does not have the rubber part.

Mine looks like this:

Jim_H

Here's a pic of how it goes together. Looks like the spring and the other pushy thing that pushes against the piston are still in the tensioneron yours.

Big Dave

I don't have the rubber (?) part that you have around your spring. I'm now wondering if I have a new suspect for the failure. I originally thought it was a bent tensioner arm bolt, but I'm trying to figure out if the tensioner was dry. If the tensioner was dry, I think it would lead to an over-tight belt as I tightened it a couple of times within 6 months of the failure. I had a belt tension warning each time which led me to re-tension. Each time I checked after the warning light, the Kempf tool indicated a loose belt, so I tightened it to the proper tension.

With a dry tensioner, does the belt become tighter as the engine warms up? Would it make the belt stretch even more than it does during the 1,500 mile break-in period for a new belt?

Jim_H

Hi Dave,

The rubber part is part of the bigger rubber part. The arrow shows the keeper and the circled part is the rubber that has been heated into a hard plastic. Your tensioner has the hardened rubber on it. If you were able to pull the spring and tensioner plunger part free of the tensioner without noticing some crumbling of the old rubber turned plastic then you probably have found your problem, maybe
My tensioner had fluid in it but the rubber had still hardened to the point of being brittle as you can tell by the piece left on the plunger doodad.

I am sure the experts will chime in after the week end.
I am surprised and disappointed how fried my rubber and seal were considering there was oil in the tensioner.

Good Luck

Oscar M

Big Dave,

You're certainly on the path of getting that engine back to good. You'll most likely find all sorts of things that will require replacement. I know I found more than I expected in terms of broken, about to break, rotted, or otherwise plain nasty. During the powder coating of the 81's intake, I found the fuel lines in a dreadful state...they basically fell apart as soon as I tried to take them off. At any rate, keep the pictures coming.

Big Dave

My rubber boot is less than a year old and not brittle whatsoever. The plunger and spring came out freely. I guess that means I am somehow missing the metal ring that secured the boot to the plunger and kept the tensioner oil in, or I'll find it when I take the tensioner apart. I thoroughly cleaned it today, but I haven't pulled the boot off to examine the contents inside.

Jim_H

Dave,

My bad the spring and arm should come out freely.
I think it is fine. Those pieces come out freely. When I blew your pic up I could see the inside pusher part was still attached to the rubber, there is no other rubber piece. I am doing a horrible job of explaining how it works but you will see when you take the rubber of. The sensor arm (with wire) fits into the piece I see in the middle of you rubber piece. Also there is a washer that goes on the sensor arm before the spring slips over it.