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[Doctor Gollum]

Who changed it last?

[JamesV6CDX]

Not me, thank goodness!

Without wanting to sound like a knob, I'd rather not go into that, if that's ok - which is why I didn't mention which car it was etc.

I just posted for a bit of fun, to see if anyone could spot it, and to enquire as to what the result could have been

[Viral_Jim]

On that specific point, potentially the tensioner not running true to the belt- causing wear on one side maybe? Also, given the very few threads protruding from the back of the tensioner, I wouldn’t have been amazed if it had worked itself loose and thrown the tensioner  . Maybe that’s being overly dramatic though.

I once did a timing belt on a Mk 5 escort 1.6, stripped it down and found that the fitted belt was smaller than the replacement one and that no tensioner was fitted  . Bizarre. How it run is a mystery to me.

[JamesV6CDX]

Also, given the very few threads protruding from the back of the tensioner, I wouldn’t have been amazed if it had worked itself loose and thrown the tensioner 

Now you mention it, I undid the bolt using a short ratchet, requiring next to no effort, so it certainly wasn't holding the required 40nm. Whether it's worked loose due to the incorrect bolt length, or wasn't tightened sufficiently from the outset, are of course unknowns

[Nick W]

Who changed it last?

if it's one of Tony's cars, then I did.

[Marks DTM Calib]

On that specific point, potentially the tensioner not running true to the belt- causing wear on one side maybe? Also, given the very few threads protruding from the back of the tensioner, I wouldn’t have been amazed if it had worked itself loose and thrown the tensioner  . Maybe that’s being overly dramatic though.

I once did a timing belt on a Mk 5 escort 1.6, stripped it down and found that the fitted belt was smaller than the replacement one and that no tensioner was fitted  . Bizarre. How it run is a mystery to me.

The friction to hold the idler in place is from the idler to mounting surface, the bolt should, in theory still be to the same tightness as the reaction torque which you tighten against is from the threads....there is just less of them so the force on the threads is greater.

[Nick W]

On that specific point, potentially the tensioner not running true to the belt- causing wear on one side maybe? Also, given the very few threads protruding from the back of the tensioner, I wouldn’t have been amazed if it had worked itself loose and thrown the tensioner  . Maybe that’s being overly dramatic though.

Any threads protruding from the back of a female thread are not contributing to the clamping action. So it makes no difference if there are 3 or 30. It's a similar case in a blind hole; only the first few threads near the joint are actually doing anything.


I'm more concerned about not noticing that the head didn't fit the counterbore

[JamesV6CDX]

I'm more concerned about not noticing that the head didn't fit the counterbore

Mate, I wouldn't worry, we're all human. I wasn't even going to say which car it was, I knew it would have been an honest mistake. I was 50/50 if anyone would even be able to spot it from the pics.

Makes me think back to some mistakes that I've made, in the past - there've been a few.

The one that makes me laugh the most, was doing an oil change on a VW, I fitted the filter, poured the new stuff in... checked the dipstick.... hmmm........ nothing..

Yep, I hadn't put the sump plug back in  Thank god I realised before trying to start it 

I also once took a short cut and changed a failed V6 water pump without removing the outer cover. Can be done, with the right sockets.....as has been documented on here before. Really didn't see an issue with it -  but unbeknown to me, during its failure, the old pump had deposited loads of small bearings in the cambelt setup, which threw the belt two teeth a while  later.

Never again - it always comes right apart for inspection now 

Thankfully, I was able to recover it with no damage done, but it was a bum squeaker!