Hai gebissen

Well, given the car is 29 years old with 205K showing on the odometer, it is quite possible that the gear was removed prior to my ownership...I removed it three years ago when I first got the car and did the belt refresh, as I replaced the front crank seal. It is possible that I reinstalled it in the opposite direction, yes.

Ducman82

so other than this belt tensioner battle, any word on the final damage?

ROG100

With respect to my customer requests for the replacement lower roller/rollers - most call and say that the roller/rollers are seized. Once I quote the replacement $250 - large intake of breath - I offer the bearing for $9.95 each.
Checking sales of that bearing and I have sold 66 in the last 12 months. Some of those would have been a two bearing sale. So rough guess 50 cars. Tells me my own experience with seized bearings is echoed out there in 928 land as well.

Hai gebissen

This gear measures 71 mm.

Imo000

Ken,

Is it safe to say that if the heads have been milled, the Audi tensioner will max out? I'm working on a car that had the heads milled by the previous shop. This is the same car I was able to pull the belt off with my fingers. The tensioner bracket is not black therefore, this would be the first gen then? What is the procedure to modify your bracket?

Adamant1971

I will be installing a PK Tensioner on an 88 with machined heads. I should get to the engine build in the next few weeks and will report back on the tensioner extension.

Ken, have you ever thought of offering a bracket for cars with machined heads? I understand your method for drilling the holes out larger, but don't like the idea of the mounting bolts being the only force keeping the bracket in position when you push it towards the belt and tighten.

bureau13

My roller was seized, with a wad of greasy...I don't know, looked like grass or small sticks lol...bound up into it. However when I eventually got all of that grunge cleaned out, it spun pretty well. It clearly had not been turning on my car for a long, long time.

Lizard928

It is probable that could be the reason you could pull the belt off.

To modify to the black edition you either need a custom bolt from Ken, then two longer bolts and you drill out the threaded holes for the lever and roller and use a through bolt instead.
Very simple upgrade.

Imo000

...................................

Imo000

I'm going to have a look at it when I get home tonight if it has the black edition.

The previous shop use d anew belt but didn't do anything to the tensioner bracket. I never went that far into the engine but since all this surfaced, I will have to tell the owner and do something about it.

69gaugeman

Which will have zero to do with this problem. So don't fret over it. That wasn't the cause as near as I can see.

Doubt it. Unless it's past it's 11mm range, there should be full tension.

Like put the factory tensioner back on?

His luck with that car has not been the best.

Hai gebissen

How do you feel about my crank gear measuring 71 mm when Ken says a new gear is 72 mm?

Imo000

1mm is only 0.5mm on each side of the crank gear. Can't see how that would make any difference in your case.

Jfrahm

Semantics but I'd call that stuck or gummed up, which I think is how most of these end up. Mine would turn, not very nice but it'll do if the belt started hopping.
I'd just as soon it make some noise if it were actually in play regularly.

They should not turn in normal operation. There are similar rollers on other engines I have worked on. Kind of like the bumper on the car, I do not use it very often either (bumper on the truck, on the other hand...)
-Joel.

Hai gebissen

Looking back, it seems really dumb of me to remove the rollers below the crank. When they are installed correctly, is it physically possible for the timing belt to come out of the crank gear and ride along the teeth? Is there enough room?