Hi Everyone.

I've just changed my timing belt and tensioner and it's thrown up a couple of issues.

Firstly, the tensioner they (Ford) supplied me is different to the one that was on the car. After a bit of playing about it appears that the cam in the new one is 'turned round' 180 degrees if that makes sense.... (Should have took a photo with hindsight!)
To put it another way, to set the tensioner I found that I had to start with the hex key in the adjusting washer in the 10 o'clock position, as opposed to 4 o'clock as per the manual. Is this just a variation in the design or should I haver been a bit more worried?

Secondly, after 10 minutes or so of running the engine light on the dash came on.... I've put this down to the VVT being particularly sensitive to any alterations in timing. I was planning on checking the timing (have the plate and pin) and adjusting as necessary, although I did actually re-set it once when I changed the belt. Is it just a case of having to get the cams dialled in EXACTLY as they were? If so I'll perservere!

Much appreciated!

Mark.

 

Right, bit of an update....

I've sorted out the timing and the lights gone out. It turned out that the inlet timing was out by the smallest of margins - I took extra care when resetting it and made sure that the locking plate slid in and out freely after tightening everything up and turning the engine by hand a couple of times.

I spoke to a mechanic at my local Ford dealer about the tensioner, it seemed as though he was none the wiser about it! I had another look at it today and it seems to be doing its job, although the pointer has now gone past the window in the locking tab. I tried resetting it but it does the same every time, the tension seems right so unless someone tells me otherwise I think I'll leave it alone....

cheers,

Mark.