Cam Belt tensioning

[97-Esprit V8]

Cam belt tensioning using harmonics

Interesting write-up on the effects of cam belt tension based on degrees of crank shaft position.

[Iconic Ride]

Great article, Paul! However, reading it has now ASSURED me that tonight will be a "toss 'n turn" event, as I lie awake wondering if the last mechanic to perform this adjustment on my Esprit actually complied with all the "nuances" pertaining to the job.

(hey, what's the worst that could happen, John? you can always buy a new engine for a mere $40,000, right?)

Aaarrrggghhhh!

John

[Troy Halliday]

To be honest it is not as diffiult a job as many have said. In fact the V8 seems to have more room to work around the cam belts. It cannd be a bit of a bind going through the lock down procedure each time you adjust the tension but I manged to get each belt within 2Hz of each other (110hz and 112Hz)

[97-Esprit V8]

I agree, I just finished changing my belts, originals were 11 years old with 39k Kms on them. Looked as good as the new ones I replaced them with...

I had no problems with the belts, I used 'winscope' to set the tension, fairly simple. I also used #13 drill bits to pin the camshafts as they are 4.7mm dia. Care working around them though as they take skin quite easily.

I did some measuring of the tension at 10 deg BTDC and found them to be much different then at the 90 deg ATDC for the LH and 135 deg ATDC for the RH. I ended up setting them ~116HZ, is there any recommended re-check tension period after new belts? I can't imagine they stretch much if anything.

[fjmuurling]

There is also an article on LEW about timingbelts and tensioning them. Timing Belts 4 & 8 Cylinders. I use a Laptop, a decent computer microphone and TuneIt software.

Freek