Technical Multipla 1.9 JTD Auxilliary belt tensioner replacement procedure
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Technical Multipla 1.9 JTD Auxilliary belt tensioner replacement procedure
Tools required
- Car jack, wheel nut wrench, and axle stand
- 10mm socket, wrench, and 5in (12.5cm) and 10in (25cm) socket entensions
- 15mm socket and long handled wrench, or 15mm long handled spanner
- Trolley or other jack
- 13mm socket
- Torque wrench 20Nm to 100Nm
Procedure summary
Step 1: Jack up car on (UK) driver's side. Support on axle stand. Remove driver's side front wheel.
Step 2: Remove section of wheel arch cover covering auxilliary belt tensioner.
Step 3: Slacken auxilliary belt by levering tensioner pulley anticlockwise/backwards, and remove belt.
Step 4: Remove bolt holding auxillary belt tensioner to engine block.
Step 5: Remove auxillary belt tensioner.
Step 6: Install new auxillary belt tensioner.
Step 7: Install auxilliary belt, and check.
Step 8: Refit section of wheel arch cover.
Step 9: Refit road wheel, and lower car to ground.
- Car jack, wheel nut wrench, and axle stand
- 10mm socket, wrench, and 5in (12.5cm) and 10in (25cm) socket entensions
- 15mm socket and long handled wrench, or 15mm long handled spanner
- Trolley or other jack
- 13mm socket
- Torque wrench 20Nm to 100Nm
Procedure summary
Step 1: Jack up car on (UK) driver's side. Support on axle stand. Remove driver's side front wheel.
Step 2: Remove section of wheel arch cover covering auxilliary belt tensioner.
Step 3: Slacken auxilliary belt by levering tensioner pulley anticlockwise/backwards, and remove belt.
Step 4: Remove bolt holding auxillary belt tensioner to engine block.
Step 5: Remove auxillary belt tensioner.
Step 6: Install new auxillary belt tensioner.
Step 7: Install auxilliary belt, and check.
Step 8: Refit section of wheel arch cover.
Step 9: Refit road wheel, and lower car to ground.
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Step 2: Remove section of wheel arch cover covering auxilliary belt tensioner:
Remove the 3 x 10mm hex head (10mm socket) screws fixing the section of wheel arch cover covering the auxilliary belt tensioner to the chassis (see photos), and remove this section, to reveal the tensioner (see photo). The front screw is high up inside the front of the car - 10in (25cm) socket entension, and maybe flashlamp required.
Remove the 3 x 10mm hex head (10mm socket) screws fixing the section of wheel arch cover covering the auxilliary belt tensioner to the chassis (see photos), and remove this section, to reveal the tensioner (see photo). The front screw is high up inside the front of the car - 10in (25cm) socket entension, and maybe flashlamp required.
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Step 3: Slacken the auxilliary belt by levering the tensioner pulley anticlockwise/backwards, and remove belt:
Using this setup it's an easy one man/person job:
Belt removal: To lever the aux belt tensioner back and slacken the aux belt, I used a medium length torque wrench and 15mm socket (others have used a long ring spanner instead) plus a trolley jack on the end of the wrench, to rotate the wrench and tensioner pulley in an anticlockwise direction, starting the wrench at about 5 o'clock and rotating to about 3 o'clock until the belt is loose enough to slide off the tensioner pulley first (see photo). Then allow the tensioner pulley to return to it's resting position, remove your tools, the belt can now be taken off the other pulleys.
Note: I found that once enough pressure was applied to the wrench handle by the jack, the wrench stayed in position.
Tip: I placed the trolley jack *in line* with the wrench handle (see photo). I found that if I used the trolley jack at a right angle to the wrench handle, the trolley would start to tip over sideways.
Tip: To know how far you can move the tensioner back to give maximum slack in the belt - there are two lugs/stops on the tensioner (see photos). When you rotate the tensioner pulley anticlockwise to slacken the belt, the right hand lug/stop rotates anticlockwise until it eventually hits the left hand (static) lug/stop on the tensioner body, which is the limit of travel/rotation. I'd go for max travel/rotation to make life easy.
Tip: Elsewhere someone mentioned *cutting the belt* to remove it. It is not necessary, and I would advise against. Here's why: the new belt supplied to me by the motor factor is the *wrong belt* (see photo). So if I'd cut up the old belt I'd have been knackered (on a Sunday too!). Also you can keep the old belt as an emergency spare.
Using this setup it's an easy one man/person job:
Belt removal: To lever the aux belt tensioner back and slacken the aux belt, I used a medium length torque wrench and 15mm socket (others have used a long ring spanner instead) plus a trolley jack on the end of the wrench, to rotate the wrench and tensioner pulley in an anticlockwise direction, starting the wrench at about 5 o'clock and rotating to about 3 o'clock until the belt is loose enough to slide off the tensioner pulley first (see photo). Then allow the tensioner pulley to return to it's resting position, remove your tools, the belt can now be taken off the other pulleys.
Note: I found that once enough pressure was applied to the wrench handle by the jack, the wrench stayed in position.
Tip: I placed the trolley jack *in line* with the wrench handle (see photo). I found that if I used the trolley jack at a right angle to the wrench handle, the trolley would start to tip over sideways.
Tip: To know how far you can move the tensioner back to give maximum slack in the belt - there are two lugs/stops on the tensioner (see photos). When you rotate the tensioner pulley anticlockwise to slacken the belt, the right hand lug/stop rotates anticlockwise until it eventually hits the left hand (static) lug/stop on the tensioner body, which is the limit of travel/rotation. I'd go for max travel/rotation to make life easy.
Tip: Elsewhere someone mentioned *cutting the belt* to remove it. It is not necessary, and I would advise against. Here's why: the new belt supplied to me by the motor factor is the *wrong belt* (see photo). So if I'd cut up the old belt I'd have been knackered (on a Sunday too!). Also you can keep the old belt as an emergency spare.
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Step 5: Remove auxillary belt tensioner:
It comes out quite easily, no contortions or force required. Note: *without* having to remove the large drive pulley, or anything else.
With tensioner removed, the mounting bolt hole and locating lug hole are visible in the engine block:
It comes out quite easily, no contortions or force required. Note: *without* having to remove the large drive pulley, or anything else.
With tensioner removed, the mounting bolt hole and locating lug hole are visible in the engine block:
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Step 6: Install new auxillary belt tensioner:
Slide it in. Note: to ensure correct fitting, and presumably to stop the main body of the tensioner moving under load, there is a round lug at the back of the tensioner main body (see photo). This lug locates into the aforementioned hole in the engine block behind the tensioner.
I applied threadlock to the bolt thread. Stick the bolt in and tighten.
Slide it in. Note: to ensure correct fitting, and presumably to stop the main body of the tensioner moving under load, there is a round lug at the back of the tensioner main body (see photo). This lug locates into the aforementioned hole in the engine block behind the tensioner.
I applied threadlock to the bolt thread. Stick the bolt in and tighten.
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Step 7: Install auxilliary belt, and check:
Belt refitting: Same set up as removal in Step 3, reverse the procedure, putting the belt on the other pulleys first, and the tensioner pulley last. And recall: once enough force is applied to the wrench handle by the jack. the wrench and the tensioner pulley will stay in position (levered back) leaving both hands free to install and/or make any final adjustments to the belt.
Check that the belt is installed correctly on all pulleys, before and after you release the tensioner pulley. Release the tensioner pulley (slowly), remove tools. Fire up the engine to check the belt is running OK.
Note belt routing round the pulleys (thanks to widemouthfrog for photo):
Belt refitting: Same set up as removal in Step 3, reverse the procedure, putting the belt on the other pulleys first, and the tensioner pulley last. And recall: once enough force is applied to the wrench handle by the jack. the wrench and the tensioner pulley will stay in position (levered back) leaving both hands free to install and/or make any final adjustments to the belt.
Check that the belt is installed correctly on all pulleys, before and after you release the tensioner pulley. Release the tensioner pulley (slowly), remove tools. Fire up the engine to check the belt is running OK.
Note belt routing round the pulleys (thanks to widemouthfrog for photo):
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Update: The good news is the clutch is performing almost normally after replacing the slave cylinder. The bad news is that the aux belt noise has got worse. When I checked under the hood today the crank pulley was bouncing around like crazy, and the aux belt, which looked normal last week, is fraying at the edges. Looks like the problem was not the aux belt tensioner but the crank pulley.
Got a pre-MOT check booked for later in the week, but I don't think the aux belt/crank pulley will survive till then.
Read some threads on crank pulley replacement, looks ok, 3 questions:
- Got a Torx bit that fits crank pulley bolts - OK to use, or get a Ribe bit?
- When undoing the crank pulley bolts, can I just put the engine into gear to lock the crank pulley?
- When retightening the bolts - how much torque?
PS. Just checked the car's service history and the crank pulley was replaced about this time last year by the local garage, just short of a year ago. Cheapo fitted by garage? Not installed properly?
RSVP.
Got a pre-MOT check booked for later in the week, but I don't think the aux belt/crank pulley will survive till then.
Read some threads on crank pulley replacement, looks ok, 3 questions:
- Got a Torx bit that fits crank pulley bolts - OK to use, or get a Ribe bit?
- When undoing the crank pulley bolts, can I just put the engine into gear to lock the crank pulley?
- When retightening the bolts - how much torque?
PS. Just checked the car's service history and the crank pulley was replaced about this time last year by the local garage, just short of a year ago. Cheapo fitted by garage? Not installed properly?
RSVP.
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Torx will be fine if it’s all you have... that’s all I had when I’d mind off. You won’t need to put it in gear, and don’t be worrying about torque settings either!... put them on tight enough that they won’t come off is all you need do. Marty.
Good stuff. Thx for quick reply.
I found out today that the aux belt noise *was* caused by the crank pulley - it had disintegrated! (see pics below).
I put on a new crank pulley (a doddle: M8 RIBE bit required, and optionally 19mm spanner to stop crank pulley turning), and as mentioned above, to remove the crank pulley bolts, putting the car in gear to lock the crank pulley doesn't stop it turning, so the trick to undo is to give a quick, sharp tug on the wrench (anticlockwise obviously) to loosen the bolts. Once loosened they undo no problem. They are only M8 so not tightened to high torque (24 Nm?).
However, to tighten the four M8 bolts on reassembly, I found it helpful to put a 19mm spanner on the crank pulley centre nut to stop the pulley turning.
The disintegrated crank pulley had been in contact with, and worn grooves in, the body of the new belt tensioner, which I could live with, but the damaged drive belt had also damaged the edge of the plastic tensioner pulley which might damage a new belt, so I decided to reinstall the old tensioner. I think the latter is worn too so I'll have to get another new tensioner. Bummer. The old crank pulley btw was installed only a year ago by a local garage.
Despite my tip/technique above on removing and installing the aux belt, I couldn't get the *new* belt over the tensioner pulley, despite the tensioner being levered all the way back. I installed the old belt instead which went on OK - there must be some slack/stretch in it compared to a new belt, but there's only about 3/4 of the belt width left so I'm taking it easy driving around.
It was dark by now which didn't make things any easier, so I might have another go in daylight with the new belt and a new tensioner tomorrow, otherwise I'll get the garage to do it - shouldn't be more than 30 mins labour.
FYI: The metal grooved V ring on the crank pulley that the belt sits in appears to be a (thin) metal cylinder slid over the solid outer metal body of the crank pulley (like the metal tyre on a train wheel), as can be seen in the photo below, instead of the V's being cast or machined into the solid metal body - seems a bit cheap and nasty to me.
I put on a new crank pulley (a doddle: M8 RIBE bit required, and optionally 19mm spanner to stop crank pulley turning), and as mentioned above, to remove the crank pulley bolts, putting the car in gear to lock the crank pulley doesn't stop it turning, so the trick to undo is to give a quick, sharp tug on the wrench (anticlockwise obviously) to loosen the bolts. Once loosened they undo no problem. They are only M8 so not tightened to high torque (24 Nm?).
However, to tighten the four M8 bolts on reassembly, I found it helpful to put a 19mm spanner on the crank pulley centre nut to stop the pulley turning.
The disintegrated crank pulley had been in contact with, and worn grooves in, the body of the new belt tensioner, which I could live with, but the damaged drive belt had also damaged the edge of the plastic tensioner pulley which might damage a new belt, so I decided to reinstall the old tensioner. I think the latter is worn too so I'll have to get another new tensioner. Bummer. The old crank pulley btw was installed only a year ago by a local garage.
Despite my tip/technique above on removing and installing the aux belt, I couldn't get the *new* belt over the tensioner pulley, despite the tensioner being levered all the way back. I installed the old belt instead which went on OK - there must be some slack/stretch in it compared to a new belt, but there's only about 3/4 of the belt width left so I'm taking it easy driving around.
It was dark by now which didn't make things any easier, so I might have another go in daylight with the new belt and a new tensioner tomorrow, otherwise I'll get the garage to do it - shouldn't be more than 30 mins labour.
FYI: The metal grooved V ring on the crank pulley that the belt sits in appears to be a (thin) metal cylinder slid over the solid outer metal body of the crank pulley (like the metal tyre on a train wheel), as can be seen in the photo below, instead of the V's being cast or machined into the solid metal body - seems a bit cheap and nasty to me.
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Mmmm. That does look cheap 'n' nasty. Any sign of a makers name or mark no it, so that we can all avoid that make in future?
It's not the first time I've read of a crank pulley failing inside 12 months. Buy cheap, buy twice.
It's not the first time I've read of a crank pulley failing inside 12 months. Buy cheap, buy twice.
Dunno wmf, will have a look later.
Meanwhile here's some pics of the new (2 weeks ago) - now old - tensioner showing the damage on the body and plastic pulley edge.
As you can see from the box it's a good make - Gates. About £30 from local motor factor. Have ordered another one.
At least I found the fault...
Meanwhile here's some pics of the new (2 weeks ago) - now old - tensioner showing the damage on the body and plastic pulley edge.
As you can see from the box it's a good make - Gates. About £30 from local motor factor. Have ordered another one.
At least I found the fault...
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Frayed knot. I checked.
Aux belt region a lot quieter. Hoping to get new belt and tensioner fitted tomoz.
For "tomoz" read 5 weeks later... 
I had trouble following the above procedure with a *new* tensioner, and *new* belt, so the following replaces Step 3 and Step 7:
Step 3: Slacken the auxilliary belt by levering the tensioner pulley anticlockwise/backwards, and remove belt
procedure replaced by:
New method to lever the tensioner back: With the new tensioner, I found when trying to lever the tensioner back using a trolley jack as described above, that I couldn't do it as the spring in the new tensioner is much stronger than in the old tensioner. Solution/new method: Use a long socket extension arrangement (in my case made up of a 10in, 2 x 5in extensions and a couple of adapters so it all fits together) between the socket (on the tensioner pulley bolt) and the socket wrench, so that the wrench is now on the outside of the car, clear of the wheel arch (see photo). The socket extension arrangement rests happily on top of the brake disc (see photo). I then used a 4 foot pipe to extend the handle of my wrench, which makes levering the tensioner back a piece of cake (you're now working *with* gravity, pushing a long lever down, instead of, with the previous method, trying to push a short lever - because of the limited space in the wheel arch - up), and if you open the driver's side door, you can wedge the end of the lever/pipe under the door to hold it in place while you remove/install the aux belt (see photo). IMO this is much more effective, easier and safer than the previous method described.
And...
Step 7: Install auxilliary belt, and check
procedure replaced by:
New method to install the aux belt: Installing the old belt was easy as, after installing the belt on the other pulleys, it was just a case of levering the tensioner back and sliding the belt onto the tensioner pulley by hand with no effort. However, a new belt is much stiffer and not stretched so there's not as much slack, so I couldn't install the new belt using this method. And trying to lever the belt onto the plastic tensioner pulley risks damaging the pulley. New method/solution: Install the belt on all the pulleys first, *including* the tensioner pulley, but excluding the crank pulley which is done last. To get the belt onto the crank pulley, I levered the belt over the outside flange on the pulley using a short crowbar and a long flat-bladed screwdriver (like getting a tyre onto the rim of a pushbike wheel with tyre levers).
Note: The peaks of the ridges on my belt are flattened compared to other belts I've seen which are more pointed. Flatter ridges might make installation onto the crank pulley (and other drive pulleys) easier as the belt can slide more easily laterally over the slots in the pulley. Maybe that's the idea? Might be worth considering when choosing a new belt.
Also, given that when the aux belt is running, there will be a small lateral movement of the belt across the idler and tensioner pulleys because, on an old car (mine's 17 years old !), the components of the aux belt subsystem are not in perfect alignment (which I expect to get worse over time as things wear), to reduce friction and squeaking/noise from this lateral movement, I carefully sprayed some *rubber-friendly/plastic-friendly* silicone lubricant onto the running surface of these pulleys, and the *smooth side only* of the aux belt, but *not* onto the drive pulleys. Having said that, the new belt and tensioner seem to be running pretty straight and true anyway. Everything's more solid looking including the new tensioner compared to the old tensioner which bounced around like crazy.
Incidently, for anyone wondering if you've got the correct new belt, it says on mine "1836 6PK". I believe "1836" is the length in millimetres, and "6PK" is 6 Peak - the number of ridges in the belt/slots in the drive pulleys. This is for a Multi 1.9 JTD *with aircon*.
It was going to cost me 0.5 hours garage labour to get the belt and tensioner installed, and I hate paying a garage for something I should be able to do myself, so I saved 30 quid, plus the satisfaction of sorting the job/cracking the problem myself.
I had trouble following the above procedure with a *new* tensioner, and *new* belt, so the following replaces Step 3 and Step 7:
Step 3: Slacken the auxilliary belt by levering the tensioner pulley anticlockwise/backwards, and remove belt
procedure replaced by:
New method to lever the tensioner back: With the new tensioner, I found when trying to lever the tensioner back using a trolley jack as described above, that I couldn't do it as the spring in the new tensioner is much stronger than in the old tensioner. Solution/new method: Use a long socket extension arrangement (in my case made up of a 10in, 2 x 5in extensions and a couple of adapters so it all fits together) between the socket (on the tensioner pulley bolt) and the socket wrench, so that the wrench is now on the outside of the car, clear of the wheel arch (see photo). The socket extension arrangement rests happily on top of the brake disc (see photo). I then used a 4 foot pipe to extend the handle of my wrench, which makes levering the tensioner back a piece of cake (you're now working *with* gravity, pushing a long lever down, instead of, with the previous method, trying to push a short lever - because of the limited space in the wheel arch - up), and if you open the driver's side door, you can wedge the end of the lever/pipe under the door to hold it in place while you remove/install the aux belt (see photo). IMO this is much more effective, easier and safer than the previous method described.
And...
Step 7: Install auxilliary belt, and check
procedure replaced by:
New method to install the aux belt: Installing the old belt was easy as, after installing the belt on the other pulleys, it was just a case of levering the tensioner back and sliding the belt onto the tensioner pulley by hand with no effort. However, a new belt is much stiffer and not stretched so there's not as much slack, so I couldn't install the new belt using this method. And trying to lever the belt onto the plastic tensioner pulley risks damaging the pulley. New method/solution: Install the belt on all the pulleys first, *including* the tensioner pulley, but excluding the crank pulley which is done last. To get the belt onto the crank pulley, I levered the belt over the outside flange on the pulley using a short crowbar and a long flat-bladed screwdriver (like getting a tyre onto the rim of a pushbike wheel with tyre levers).
Note: The peaks of the ridges on my belt are flattened compared to other belts I've seen which are more pointed. Flatter ridges might make installation onto the crank pulley (and other drive pulleys) easier as the belt can slide more easily laterally over the slots in the pulley. Maybe that's the idea? Might be worth considering when choosing a new belt.
Also, given that when the aux belt is running, there will be a small lateral movement of the belt across the idler and tensioner pulleys because, on an old car (mine's 17 years old !), the components of the aux belt subsystem are not in perfect alignment (which I expect to get worse over time as things wear), to reduce friction and squeaking/noise from this lateral movement, I carefully sprayed some *rubber-friendly/plastic-friendly* silicone lubricant onto the running surface of these pulleys, and the *smooth side only* of the aux belt, but *not* onto the drive pulleys. Having said that, the new belt and tensioner seem to be running pretty straight and true anyway. Everything's more solid looking including the new tensioner compared to the old tensioner which bounced around like crazy.
Incidently, for anyone wondering if you've got the correct new belt, it says on mine "1836 6PK". I believe "1836" is the length in millimetres, and "6PK" is 6 Peak - the number of ridges in the belt/slots in the drive pulleys. This is for a Multi 1.9 JTD *with aircon*.
It was going to cost me 0.5 hours garage labour to get the belt and tensioner installed, and I hate paying a garage for something I should be able to do myself, so I saved 30 quid, plus the satisfaction of sorting the job/cracking the problem myself.
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