Aux Belt

[Smudger]

Hi Guys

i was going to attempt to change the Aux belt on the williams yesterday. Got the car up on a ramp, took the bonnet, headlamp and the wheel off to get full access.

All seemed easy to get to untill i tried putting an allen key in the centre of the tensioner wheel.

There seems to be a metal channel that runs parallel to the engine, opposite to the tensior. This channel houses all the cabling/wires to that side of the engine bay. Is it possible to remove this as with it there i only have about a 15mm gap between the channel and the centre of the tensioner

[BristolSam16v]

Yup on the nearest end of the plastic/metal bit you're refering to is a 'bolt' undo this about half a turn as it not a proper bolt just fits into a slot then locks on half a turn. or just turn and pull at the same time you'll see what I mean. PS you don't have to remove the bonnet :P

[Smudger]

ahh i see, which id given that a bash now!! lol

i know you dont need to remove the bonnet but i was doing loads of things to her yesterday and just wanted to get it off

thanks for the info mate

[white16valver]

I completely failed to access that tensioner thing when I was working on mine - managed to slip the belt off the alternator to remove the it and then bodged it back on with brute force lol

Still seems ok at the moment 8) but it's not perfect :(

[Smudger]

I completely failed to access that tensioner thing when I was working on mine - managed to slip the belt off the alternator to remove the it and then bodged it back on with brute force lol

Still seems ok at the moment 8) but it's not perfect :(

i was considering this way, as im pretty worried that if i release the tensioner that it might tighten up properly again.

might give it a go next weekend

[white16valver]

Yeah, I don't know how hard it is to get the tensioner back to the correct tension.

All I did was push the alternator towards the block as far as it would go (it was seized at the bottom joint so required some, er, 'persuasion' to come off lol) and then slip the belt off the top belt-wheel thing (technical term LoL).

To refit I squeezed it back onto the wheel thing then put my bodyweight into pulling the alternator forward again and bolting it into place at the same time.

It was a bit of a challenge... lol

[cliolord]

Be careful lads, I have come across alot of Broken Drive Belt Tensioners...The toothed type gear cut outs that run along the back of the PAS mounting which the tensioner uses to adjust on are commonly broken/rounded so they dont work when you try to adjust them back up. I normally remove the alternator as someone suggested above to remove then fit the new belt and refit the alternator which saves pulling your hair out on a dodgy tensioner.