Re: Mark's timing belt tensioner

[Mark Denovich <mark@domain.elided>]

> From: "Garcia, Andrew G" <Andrew_Garcia@domain.elided>
> 
> 	I know of several V6 cars that ended up with bent valves because of
> the new mechanical tensioner failure. The newest batch does not seem to have
> the same tension as older models. Most of these people now use the Zat
> tensioner. 

I'm afraid I'll incurr the wrath of Mr. DiMatteo, but that's exactly 
what I did.  Adding insult to injury, you need the bearing from the 
hydrualic tensioner to use it.   Since mine was long gone, I had to find 
a new one.   SKF no longer produces the bearing, but Sperry Valve Works 
has some in stock for a hefty $90 each.   I probably could have used a 
cheaper bearing and machined a new shell for it (put my lathe to good 
use) but I didn't have an original to work from, and until the Alfa is 
back on the road, I'm driving a borrowed car.  Everything (Zat's 
tensioner, a new water pump, belts, etc.) except the bearing was 
delivered today.   If it gets here tomorrow I should have it running 
again this weekend.

If I still had the original hydrualic tensioner and my engine had not 
been adapted for the mechanical tensioner I'd have had Sperry rehab one 
for me...  That seems like the best option.

	--Mark
	--1988 Milano Verde
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided