Cambelt hyraulic damper advice

**Last Triumph** · 10-01-2009,04:25 PM

In the middle of a cambelt change on the 1.8 ADR non turbo.

Got to the bit where I need to remove the tensioner.

It says to use an 8nmm allen ket to rotate the roller anti-clockwise to compress the piston in the hydraulic damper enough to release the belt tension and insert the 2mm pin to hold it closed.

Well, it won't budge.

Manual says only slow gentle pressure works.

Still no joy after leaning on it for 30 secs.

Manual then says it won't compress at less than 30 degrees C. Well, best make sure you only do cam belts in Florida, or get the entire front end stripped down in 10 mins before the engine cools!

How rediculous!.

Anyway..... after leaving a hair dryer on it for 10 mins, I tried again.

No joy.

Despite the manual saying not to undo the bolts until it is relieved of tension, I had no choice but to take it off.

No gig deal.

So, I've now got it in the oven on slow bake at 50 degrees for 30mins, just incase the thermal inertia of the hair dryer wasn't enough.
Then I'll stand on it and see what happens.

Now, the interesting bit - the conti-tech kit didn't come with a hydraulic damper, only the belt and roller.

Is this normal, or should I replace the piston anyway?

Anyone else had any experience of this, as if I can't compres the piston if it has seized, I can't get the new belt on.

Anyone?

**Last Triumph** · 10-01-2009,06:29 PM

Oven trick didn't work either, probably becuase it'd gone cold by the time I got it bolted on the block again....

So, took it to my Dad's house who has a wide jaw vice and very gently gripped it between the jtaws.

I then gave it a couple of mins with the heat gun till it was almost too hot to touch - about 50 degrees on the pyro he has.

It then carefully wound in nicely - which was a relief.

I may have got it too hot, as whilst I was examining it, a little fuid dripped out from the end and it was very thin, maybe 2ml or so, certainly not enough to impede its performance.

I checked it still shot out again (which it did, proving that it isn't seized) then made a pull ring pin out of piano wire to pull it out on re-instillation.

So, the moral of the story - you need a heat gun to get it very hot, and it need a lot more force to compress the piston that I imagined it would.

**Last Triumph** · 10-01-2009,06:34 PM

Right then - I assessed the various options and decided to drill the heas off with a right angled Makita battery drill.
I started at 6mm, and ended up at 8mm before the heads sheared off.
Took ages as I kept stopping to add lubricant to keep the drill sharp and also I couldn't put much pressure on as the LC was still in the way.
I'd say I spent about 45 mins on each bolt, but they ame off clean in the end.
The big relief was that once I got the pulley off, the tiny bit of protruding thread from the crank sprocket could just be gripped by finger tip and came out easily by hand - which was a huge relief.
So - on with the cam belt job..... SEE OTHER POST FOR NEXT PROBLEM!

**adamss24** · 10-01-2009,06:59 PM

You should get a hydrolic damper as well, your kit should have came with one ! I would not use it back if it was stiff, every one i did was hard to compress but it did budge. It should be renewed though !

**Last Triumph** · 10-01-2009,07:40 PM

Hmmm.

Wonder why it didn't come with one?

Where is the best place to get one from?

Any links?

**stonedagain** · 10-01-2009,09:04 PM

Originally Posted by adamss24

You should get a hydrolic damper as well, your kit should have came with one ! I would not use it back if it was stiff, every one i did was hard to compress but it did budge. It should be renewed though !

I used a Gates kit & that came without the tensioner. I removed my tensioner & gently squeezed the piston back in using a vice.

**Last Triumph** · 10-01-2009,09:10 PM

Originally Posted by stonedagain

I used a Gates kit & that came without the tensioner. I removed my tensioner & gently squeezed the piston back in using a vice.

Fair play.

The tensioner seem to opperate perfectly. I was just amazed at how much presssure it took to get the piston back in - as yousay, using a vice and a heat gun!. Shame I lost a small dribble of fluid, but hey?

I trust you couldn't get your piston back in using the allen key in the pulley technique as recommended in Haynes?

**stonedagain** · 10-01-2009,09:16 PM

No, I couldn't, the allen key was about to round off! The piston needs to be stiff to push in, otherwise it would by pushed back in by the tension of the belt. Similar idea to a hydraulic tappet.

**Last Triumph** · 10-01-2009,09:33 PM

Fair enough - that puts my mind at rest abour re-using it.

**adamss24** · 11-01-2009,10:39 AM

Originally Posted by Last Triumph

Fair enough - that puts my mind at rest abour re-using it.

I buy my kits from Euro Car parts. the full cambelt kit is about 110 inc. VAT. It cames with everything needed: new bolts and nuts, damper, relay roller, tensioner and belt. You can buy the damper from tem on its own- about 50 quid. Do a water pump and thermostat as well while you are at it if you intend to keep the car. If any of them needs replacing, it will mean a bumper off job again !