Re: V6 Belt tensioner

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

For what it's worth, Nick, my mechanic agrees with you. There are a 
number of "solutions" out there for improving the original hydraulic 
tensioner, but my mechanic contends that none are as good as the 
thermomechanical one, when it's correctly installed. He has his own 
method, and it seems to work. He's never had one fail because of faulty 
installation. OTOH, he recommends replacement with EVERY belt change, 
and, in fact, won't do a belt job without replacing the tensioner (he 
did it once, the old tensioner failed, he ate the engine rebuild 
(ouch). You get the idea).

George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0S



On Saturday, April 19, 2003, at 04:44 AM, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 21:18:44 -0600
> From: "Nick Sorensen" <nicksorensen@domain.elided>
> Subject: V6 Belt tensioner
>
> Hello all,
> The V6 Thermomechanical tensioner works quite well, if installed 
> correctly.
> All this hype about it lately seems to make me think everyone forgot 
> how bad
> the originals were.  That said, there are a few conditionals for the 
> updated
> tensioner.  If the tensioner has snapped back under the spring 
> tension, to
> the fully slack position, it will be damaged.  Further, if the factory
> method is used to tension the unit, the failure rate increases 
> dramatically.
> For a procedure that is known to work, go to the Centerline website.  
> We
> have sold hundreds of these things, and installed dozens ourselves, so 
> we
> have a pretty large sample of users.  Every time the tensioner is 
> installed
> correctly, it easily lasts the lifespan of the belt.  In fact we 
> recommend
> replacing them every other belt.  Personally, I think it is the best 
> thing
> available.
>
> Nick
> Centerline Alfa Romeo
> Boulder, CO
> 888-750-ALFA
> www.centerlinealfa.com
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