[alfa] Re: mechanical tensioners

[Mark Denovich <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Brad Anesi wrote:

> Peter's points are well taken, but what I am talking about is the spring
> failure on the mechanical tensioner, as identified on Mark's page.  (Mark,
> can you re-post the direct link for that picture again?  I can't seem to
> locate it from your home page.) 
I thought I had a picture too, but I can't find it.  Gerry Lehmann 
posted one a few days ago, so I borrowed it and added it to the Wiki here:

http://alfa.denovich.org/Alfa/TimingBeltDetensioner


> Regardless of how correctly the tensioner
> was installed, once this spring fails there will be a dramatic reduction in
> belt tension and you're just about doomed to have the belt slip, trashing
> your head in the process.  
I've been super lucky with these damn things.  I've had two with broken 
springs, but I caught them before the engine damage occurred (it only 
jumped one tooth in both cases).  Both had been recently installed (not 
by me.)  The spring broke exactly as pictured.   Ethan had similar 
problems with two tensioners but in one case with much graver results.

Even without the spring problem the mechancial detensioner is a pretty 
shitty design when compared to a static tensioner.   I've heard of 
_zero_ problems with the static design.   It's dead simple to install 
and use, and I can rotate my engine backwards if I feel like it.

is this horse dead yet?

--Mark
The Alfa Wiki: http://alfa.denovich.org
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