Auxiliary belt tensioner

OK
thank to the brilliant help on this web forum i have now
Fixed the knocking from underneath by replacing the rear Centre Diff Bush.

Fixed the Fan blower by replacing the resisters.

Just 2 more things to do.

1. I have a screaching noisy when I am pulling away and someone said that it could be the Auxiliary Belt Tensioner.
Where is the Auxiliary belt tensioner? is it easy to get at and if you have Rave Manuals what page can I find it?

2. Still got the water leak in the rear boot.
I am going to get the wife to squirt the hose whilst I am inside this after noon.

the water in the boot is prob rear door seal or the window not being up correctly (i think they can be reset)

Definately not door seal, we sprayed all around the door with carpet out and no sign of any water.

It could be coming in from a vent on the rear nearside just above the wheel arch.
I have hust siliconed around it and will test again tomorrow and let you know how I get on.
Has anyone else experienced a leak from here?

Any advice on the Tensioner?
Is it a easy job to tighten or to replace?

Sometimes the water can come in from around the run off sill, or the rear lights if the seal has gone (found this on my ZR when I replaced the standard lights!).

Also, water can enter via the bottom of the door. It runs into the inside of the door through the window rubber (where the window winds down into) and gathers in the interior. It is supposed to run out of some holes which are drilled into the bottom of the door, but it can seep through into the interior if the door seals are split or damaged (again found this out the hard way with my ZR!).

Only way to check for this is by removing the door card and checking.

Riki

Hi, Tensioner details on RAVE CD, Workshop Manual TD4 2001 MY on, section Charging and Starting. Page ref. 86-1-6.
Hope this helps,
Eric

rave disk link in my signature.

I am getting confused
Is the timing belt the same as the auxiliary belt???

Where is it located in the engine bay?
Is it the one that I can just about see at the front on the drivers side if the engine?

What engine do you have?

The auxiliary belt is different to the timing belt. Not that I’m an expert! The aux belt drives the alternator, air con compressor, power steering pump etc. The timing belt drives the cam shafts and the main crank shaft, and the water pump.

Typically on an engine you can see the aux belt. The timing belt is hidden a bit.

Hi
Its a 1999 Deisel Freelander XDI 2.0
All I can find on my Rave disc is the timing belt.

The rave disk that I have doesn’t cover the rover 2L diesel engine. You’ll have to look at the Haynes manual for that. Most of the other rave stuff applies to your car though. I know people disregard the Haynes manual for being useless, but I think it’s brilliant.

You have the rover L series diesel. It has a rubber timing belt, and a rubber auxiliary belt.

The difference is the timing belt has teeth, and the auxiliary belt is smoother, with groves which run the length of the belt. Below is a pic of my v6 auxiliary belt as a guide.

Thanks for that
do you know where the tensioner is for the auxiliary belt?

Nope. Sorry. Can’t see it in the Haynes manual. But as an advisory, below is a pic of my v6 tensioner. Arrowed green. Mine automatically puts the correct tension on the belt. Not sure if yours does the same, or it’s adjustable. To take the belt off, all I have to do is put a spanner on the metal tensioer plate, on the right hand side of it, and push it up anti clock wise. The belt comes loose, so you can change it.

A word of warning when fitting an auxiliary belt. Make sure it’s correctly cantered on all the wheels it goes round. That’s difficult to see when fitting on mine, as the alternator wheel is at the top. You have to operate the tensoioner from below. An uneven belt will unevenly stretch causing premature failure.

As said above, if the belt squeals then put a small amount of talcum powder on it.

A mate of mine with a golf was so embarrassed to have a squealing aux belt, he kept tightening it. Got to the point where you could see 4 thread like strings one section. That went to 3, before he replaced it. He’d over tightened it.

Hi, to locate the tensioner on the L-series is fairly easy. Turn your steering all the way to the right. If you sit next to right front wheel and look at your engine should see it. Its a small pulley that can be removed without loosening any bolts or removing any covers. The tensioner is spring loaded and by pushing it back you can remove the belt. With the belt removed you can check whether the bearing on the pulley(tensioner) needs to be replaced by spinning it. If you need to replace it you have the option whether you want to buy the whole unit, which cost an arm and a leg out here(South Africa), or by drilling out the rivets and replacing just the bearing in the tensioner. Hope this helps a bit. I did mine so you are more than welcome to ask for further assistance.

Thanks Numsi
I am not sure what I am looking at?
There are 3 pulleys at the bottom is it the smaller one in the middle or
is it above that?

Where did you get the right size bearing from for the Tensioner?

The belt look very old as there are a lot of bits missing from the lines on the belt.
Is it difficult to replace it?
It looks very awkward to get at!

Sorry about all the questions.

The crank pulley is the big pulley at the bottom of the chain that the belt runs round. Looking through the right hand (with reference to the drive sat in the car) front wheel arch with the plastic cover removed this should be clearly seen. To the right of this pulley is the tensioner.

I doubt the tensioner is faulty as if if had failed then I suspect the belt would come off. Your belt sounds like its badly worn so the first job is to replace this belt. Take the road wheel off to get better access. Put an axle stand under the subframe to hold the car. To release the old belt use a suitably sized socket on the tensoner and turn anti clockwise to pull the tensioner off the belt. Hold it there and slip the belt off the crank pulley. You can release the tensioner now. Carefully remove the old belt taking care to plot the path it takes so you can fit the replacement correctly. Fit the replacement belt, starting from the top of the engine and working down. Finally pull the tensioner back using the socket again and slip the new belt over the crank pulley and under the tensioner. Check the belt is centered on all pullies as you let the tensioner take up the slack. Might need a helper to check all is well while you do this.

For your information.

The aux drive belt drives the alternator for electrical power generation, the power steering pump, which also includes the coolant pump and the air conditioning compressor. While the operation of these items is essentual for the car it doesn't matter if any slip occurs between the crank pulley and any of the other pullies. It is this slippage you are hearing.

The timing belt(s) for there are two on the L series. The first one is within the plastic cover beyond the aux belt. It links the crank shaft to the cam shaft and uses a special toothed belt. The second one is at the top of the engine but to the left hand side (again with reference to the drivers position). It links the cam shaft to the fuel pump and again uses a special toothed belt. These two timing belts must under no circumstances be allowed to slip. At the least a slippage will stop the engine from running or make it run rough. More likely a slip will allow the valves to collide with the pistons, which normally destroys the engine.

Under no circumstances venture into changing the timing belts unless you absolutely know what you are doing. Entrust this to an expert.

I hope this helps.

Dave

Excellent Dave Thank you.
So the Tensioner is the smaller one in the middle of the bottom 3 pulleys.
I have a 1999 XDI Freelander L series. do you know by any chance what the P/N of the belt is?
I think it might be PQS100851 but can anyone confirm this before I order one on the web?

Thanks for everyones help on this forum I managed to change the auxiliary Belt in 30 mins !!
It was much easier than i thought it would be.

Unfortunately it did not solve the squealing noise as I pull away.
The tensioner spring was fine and it spun quite easily.
Could it be the Tensioner bearing making the noise when its under tension?

Or could the problem lie elsewhere?

Please help.

PS
Even though the new Belt did not solve the problem it needed changing as it had lots of bits missing from the grooves.

Hi Reeflodge
Remove the aux belt (sure you know by now how to do that). Start up your Hippo, should the noise persist then its not any of the pulleys thats been driven by the the belt.
With the belt off, check the alternator and powersteering pump by spinning them too and checking for freeplay in the bearings.

Good idea to try but remember not to run the engine for too long. You have no coolant pump with the Aux belt removed!!

Thanx for pointing that out Dave. We wouldn't want the guy to blow a headgasket while trying to sort out a squealing noise!