Thought someone might be interested, if you don't have the tensioner tool or the time to wait for it to arrive. I used a wood vice to compress the tensioner pin, and I didn't have to remove the air conditioner or bracket. Worked like a charm.

 

Good work!

I don't suppose you can tell me how to access the hydraulic tensioner mounting bolt that you can't see... I can see the lower bolt but not the upper. It looks like you have to remove the compressor bracket to get to that one. Is that correct?

 

Some have said they got to it using a 1/4" drive socket set and swivel. Me? I just pull the compressor off.

 

I don't know about the 1/4-inch solution...

I just gave up and pulled the compressor of the compressor bracket. That wasn't too bad of a job. Took off the tire to gain a little access. The real problem was getting to the bolts that hold the bracket to the block. Those suckers are on pretty tight, and 17 years don't make 'em any looser! I worked for 2 hours before I could access the hydraulic tensioner bolts. Had to tie the compressor and PS pump out of the way and then I could just barely access the bolts using a variety of tools.

Getting the bolts back on the bracket was also troublesome for me. Not so much the top ones, but the bottom ones. Took me about 1/2 hour to get those four bolts in, and another 15 minutes to torque them tight. I was not able to get any of my torque wrenches to one of the bottom bolts (can't recall which one) so I just pulled it as tight as I could using a 3/8-inch drive rachet with a pipe as an extender (couldn't "rachet" any more than one click).

Anyway, I finished up with only one small bolt left over. It's a little gold guy about 1/4" long and takes a 10mm socket. Haven't the foggiest idea from where it came... and I hope I don't find out when I'm 50 miles from the pavement...

 

dang.....i fear the day i have to tear into the timing belt extravaganza !

 

Just did my TB and water pump last week. Tried to use a 4' bar to compress the TB tensioner using the water pump and tensioner pulleys. It moved a bit but the problem I had was the small hole in the tensioner rotated so the key couldnt engauge. This was a 3 day process for me. The first day I spent disassembling the outer stuff like accessories, radiator, belly pan. The bolts that tension the AC ,Alternator and PS were all rusted. I sheared two of the bolts which gave me an extra 60 minutes to torch and remove the old bolts, tap the tensioner block and run to ace harware for new 4" bolts m8 x 1.25. Not cheap btw. Bought 4 new fan bolts while I was there. Nearly $8.

Getting back to the tensioner, After giving up and spending another 4 hours wrestling the AC off the engine and removing the tensioner and putting it in the vice, it took some serios force to reset it. For a moment there I thought it was seized, but finally it did compress back in. That was day two.

Just a side note, disconnect the wire to the compressor, I strained mine by pushing the compressor all over the place getting at the bolts. The compressor didnt work when I fired it up. Thankfully I didnt break the wire, just stretched it so the plug wasnt connected.

Day three was 5 hours of reassembly. Make sure you put the jiggler on the t-stat at 6 o'clock.

 

Those tensioners want to be compressed slowly. Give the vice a turn, go have a beer, another turn, another beer, and eventually you get there.

 

I just back the bolts off until the belt tension is relieved, swap the belt and WP (if needed) then route the T-belt according to the routing diagram, set timing lines on the belt with the timing marks on the cam gears and crank pulley/harmonic balancer (properly torque the ass out of this bolt) tighten the tensioner, put everything back together and Jake's your uncle, all should be fine.

 

I'm driving my runner until the waterpump starts leaking or the engine strips the cogs off the belt. Sounds like a major PAIN IN THE ___
If we strung together the 1,000 word tricks n shortcuts replies about timing belts....... We'd all pass out!

 

Here's a link to the page that describes how to loosen the belt tensioner without removing it. http://www.lieblweb.com/waterpump.html

(See steps 16, 17 & 18)

Yes this is a write up for a water pump replacement but the same technique can be used when changing a timing belt.