[ryanlarue]

Hey guys, you might remember last month, my forester had spit out one of the idler pulleys. I then replaced all of the pulleys, minus the tensioner and water pump. I replaced the water pump when I replaced the head gaskets. After the last episode, I replaced the timing belt, the center cover, and all idler pulleys. I NEED TO REPLACE THE TENSIONER but I'd like to replace it without taking the TB offand going through the headache of retiming the engine. I'll be replacing the tensioner during my spring break (third week in march)

Any tricks you guys know? Any ideas?

 

[BobG]

First of all I would be sure to have the crankshaft in the service position.
And then to make sure the belt doesn't move on the pulleys I would use a couple of spring clamps to hold the belt on the cam gears.
I would also mark the belt and the cam pulleys with a felt pen just in case.

 

[Duderotomy]

Mark the belt to the timing marks on the block/heads and then just replace the tensioner.
Just make sure you line up those marks and you'll be golden.

 

[xtal]

^^ what they said. Just get some of those springy clamp thingies.

I used the ones you get for paper stacks instead of staples when I did the belt the first time (in the car). Helps hold the belt in place doing the DOHC job.

Should go pretty easy. There is no need to remove the belt; essentially you are just doing the first two and last two steps of a TB job.

Mark the belt with a silver sharpie (easy to see) so you can double and triple check the marks so nothing moved. After it's all buttoned down, turn the engine over by hand a few times to make sure nothing is interfering, and away you go..

 

[ryanlarue]

This is all sound advice! thank you guys, I'll post pictures up when I do this job.