B****y Belts !!

[onthecut]

Still grumpy from my mechanical disaster last weekend, when, next thing -- no. 1 daughter comes in saying her 306 is making an odd noise. Lift the lid -- there's the serpentine belt getting shaved away and off the power steering pump pulley. Sure enough, look at the auto tensioner and hey presto --- it's running at an angle -- just like the pile of junk we all have on the air con 2.5s. It's not the same piece, but has exactly the same fault -- it obviously wears on its pivot shaft and then the spring puts it at an angle which starts to push the belt off. Naturally it's fitted in such a position you have to drop the engine to change it -- after all, where would the challenge be, otherwise !
Looking at the lad's 307 HDi, they have significantly altered and improved the tensioner design --- it's constructed such that it can't run off square under spring pressure and, ironically, is much easier to get at and would be readily removable in situ, if required.

Mike.

[citroenxm]

Its ALL the same as Xantias!! Over on FCF theres a few people who have experianced they wonky STUPID weak auto tensioners, that split the aux belts then it wraps itself around the bottom pully, then it jams the cam belts and then the pistons HIT THE VALVES

Looks like you caught it in the nick of time!

And Yes the HDi has a much more improoved setup, unfortunally, when I swapped the Air Con from the Series 2 car to my Series 1 Xantia, I couldn't use the HDi tensioner... and had to use the CRAPPY auto tensioner....

Will be keeping a close eye on it..

Paul

[colinxm]

Belts ? don't talk to me about belts !

Colin.P