[Vwdiesel] Banana Rabbit--It gets worse!!

[Erik Lane]

You make very valid points, and in general I agree with all of them. It's
just that I'm not ever going to replace another of these belts without also
replacing the tensioner. And I want people to be aware that it can be an
issue. I have no idea how big of a risk it is, but once was enough for me!

Yes, I believe that over-tensioning the belt could wear out the tensioner
faster. Though I've gotten pretty good at that, and even have the tension
tester now to double check myself. I don't think that was the issue. As far
as part quality, I get my parts from Halsey Import, and they're generally
German and very high quality. Not always perfect, though. I had a few
pulleys from them that for some reason had the wrong offset, even though it
was stamped with the right part number. I never did hear if they figured out
how that happened, but at least they took them off my hands. But as to
tension, I've put many miles on quite a few of these cars, and only once
ever had an injection pump problem. None of these pumps have been rebuilt to
my knowledge, and the cars have very high miles on them. So I don't think
they're being over-tensioned.

It would sure be worth it to pay more and *know* that you're getting a
higher quality part! I guess it just doesn't make business sense, somehow.
Erik

On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 3:07 PM, mark shepherd <mark at shepher.fsnet.co.uk>wrote:

> I certainly wouldn't want to experience the issues you have, Eric.
>
> However, apart from the saving money aspect, which often nods it's head in
> my decisions, although in this case this is a fairly cheap part, I have
> spent my life surrounded with old mechanisms, and clearly inferior modern
> equivalents.  This show s it's face in everything form toilet paper to
> Briggs and Stratton engines.
> My 1959 B & S still starts on old dead petroleum.
>
>  In the case of tensioners; I've had 7 Quantums, and I cant remember if I
> ever replaced one. An old FIAT of mine needed one back in the 1980's but I
> think that's it.
>
> I wonder if in the case of VW diesels, apart from always useing the full
> belt covering, could obsessive overtensioning of the tensioner, not only
> lead to premature pump bearing failure, but also to rapid tensioner wear
> and
> death especially in the less robust replacements?
>
> Mark
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Erik Lane" <eriklane at gmail.com>
> To: "vw fans" <Vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 6:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Banana Rabbit--It gets worse!!
>
>
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 7:16 AM, mark shepherd
> > <mark at shepher.fsnet.co.uk>wrote:
> >
> >> Never replace a shell bearing, that upon inspection looks pretty well as
> >> it
> >> did when it was installed. A complete waste of money and a potential
> >> source
> >> of  later trouble.
> >>
> >> Check the tensioner whilst you are there by spinning it. If a good spin,
> >> and
> >> no rumble then leave this too...
> >>
> >>
> > I disagree with this one. I used to just check the timing belt tensioner
> > and
> > only replace it when it sounded/felt like it had a bad bearing, but one
> > time
> > after seeming perfect in every respect it failed ~1-200 miles after
> > replacing the belt. That cost me quite a bit in getting the head rebuilt,
> > new head gasket, and a lot of time in towing and fixing it. I replace the
> > tensioners every single time now. They only cost $16 and take about that
> > much worth in time just to replace later if you need to.
> >
> > Erik
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
>
>
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