[Vwdiesel] Timing belt tensioner

[James Hansen]

Well my turn to chime in. :-)
Tensioners used to ALL be good, becuase there were no cheap ones 
available, it was all dealer parts, or parts so close to dealer quality 
there was negligible difference, in some cases, the aftermarket was 
better, and having a tensioner failure was definitely not the norm- they 
would outlast the vehicle.
Today in our "cheaper is best, damn the quality" society, weigh the cost 
of the tensioner against that of a valve crash/head job, because the 
likelihood of a new tensioner lasting through two belt changes is 
drastically less than it was years ago.  I wouldn't let my expectations 
get out of hand...
I've taken new bearings apart for different reasons, and permanently 
lubricated shielded bearing quality has really fallen off over the 
years- you would swear grease was sold by the ounce when you see how 
much is used in some cheaper bearings these days.

sounding old
-james

Iain Hunter wrote:
> Hello.
> 
> In removing the pump for inspection/ repair/ rebuild, I am have decided to replace the timing belt, while everything is off. The last time it was done was about 40,000 miles ago. Do you think it will need a belt tensioner also, as it had one last time?
> 
> Cheers.
> 
> 
> Iain. (vanagon 1.6td)
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