Hey guys, again i need your wisdom! Issue's i have been told I need to look at are, -Engine mounts -Oil Pressure / sensor -Harmonic balancer -tensioner pully OK as above these are some issues i want to get fixed, now as for engine mounts, I cannot do this myself, so it's a non issue for now. Oil pressure / sensor, well assuming i know what i'm talking about this is located and the front bottom left area of the engine, basically i should be able to replace this myself, what is involved in replacing this component? And yeah Harmonic balancer, since having the CAS replaced the mech told me that there's a prominant groove on the inner shaft of the HB and should be replaced soon, what would i be looking at for a new replacement? and where from? i won't be considering second hand... and last of all tensioner pully, whilst overlooking the engine this morning, i noticed the tensioner pully bouncing a good 5 to 8 mm whilst idling, it probably shouldn't be doing that and i figure it probably needs replacing or tightening? Again any information is greatly appreciated. Cheers.
**** of a job if your car has aircon fitted. Unplug the wires to the old one, unscrew it (you may need a shifter to get it started) and then the reverse to install the new one. Quite straight forward. It is located just near the oil filter. Not a difficult job. Undo the bolt (big one) that holds it onto the crankshaft and slide the old one off. You may need a puller to do the job however if it has been off recently you may be able to get it off without one. Is it whining? Also check the condition of your serpentine belt. Hope this helps Reaper
cheers mate, yeah most of this is fairly straight forward, and i figured that oil issue would be a simply fix,.. yeah the tensioner pully dosn't whine or anything it simply bounces around like it's not tight? but i replaced the belt a couple of months back, and it's in great nick still... as for HB, well it had been off a few weeks back, although i don't have the tools to get the bastered off, so i may need to leave that one for a mech once i pick up a new harmonic balancer...
with the tensioner pulley is easy enough to do,to quickly check if the bearings are ok or shot, get a flathead screwdriver, place the end on the bolt, and ur ear to the other end, u'll hear if its shot, will sound 'gritty'. To do the tensioner arm itself, is a lil more involved, need to remove the alternator and heater hose, i think about 5bolts holding it on. Theres no adjustment on the tensioner itself, just a replacement jobby, and they do lose tension over time.. how many kms on the car? i think it has some specs on its normal operation movement range in the gregories or elleries (sp). at work, will check at home tonight. btw, the tensioner pulley bolt is left hand thread!! i didnt know at the time n just thought it was tight lol, n well i learnt how to change the tensioner arm too!
There are some indicator marks on the tensioner arm. If its outside the marks it might just be a stretched belt. If you pull the belt off you can probably work out if the pulley / arm is loose or not. The spring should be reasonably firm
yeah car has done roughly 300,000 alot i know but since i have owned it i'm replacing almost everything mechanical i know of... umm yeah as mentioned it's some what a new belt, and i doubt it'd be streched, although could just be dodgy.. and as mentioned the springs should be firm, and although they appear to be, and it's actually quite a struggle to get the tensioner arm down to get belt off, it still has a fari amount of play in it... OK so how does one aquire this part, repco have em? or do i need to deal with holden?
when i did mine, i got mine from rare spares, but ur repco and holden will/should have them in stock. i'd call around an price them, then get the cheapest one, maybe even tell em its $20 cheaper from the other joint, see if they can work something out.. from memory it was about $150.. although this was about 4 years ago. yea it should be hard to move downward to remove the belt, when its running, do the alignment triangles roughly match up? i would change it, due to the kms done.. and 300k is high, but the eco's seam to just keep goin.
engine mounts dont have to be hard, I did my passenger side mount in a little under three hours, on the ground with a jack, two stands and your basic every day tools, at one stage I did use a breaker bar but you can use a length of pipe for the same effect. there are allot of threads on engine mounts and i'm pretty sure I even posted lenghty and detailed instructions at one point or another.
Some info on the belt tensioner: http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/holden-commodore-how-tos/22542-vr-vs-engine-belt.html You can take the belt off and spin the pulley by hand. If it sounds like the bearings are rubbing and noisy you can replace the pulley for something like $15.
