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Hi Brettl I have rented the tools from Christophers Foreign car parts.com they are in N.J $100 for three weeks. make sure you rent the deluxe set as you can clamp both sides at the same time
I was thinking about doing just the upper tensioners. My mechanic however is not willing to do that, the only way he'll do the job as if he does the full job. I Already have the upper tensioners and gaskets, wondering if I should just do the job myself? He says there's too many risks to do it with the zip tie method. I live in Pittsburgh PA and I'm not sure if anyone else is willing because I had a second garage tell me they wouldn't touch it.
Yes, do it yourself. There is just about zero risk to the zip tie method as long as you rotate the engine to a position where the exhaust cam is not depressing the valves more than a slight amount.
Your mechanic may be very good, but I think he would like to scare you and make more money.
There are many DIY threads here for secondary tensioners.
Yea, I feel the same way. My Mechanic is a personal friend and he is just very scared and thinks he could possibly break my car. it only has 47K and very clean.
I read all the posts on upper tensioners, I am going to do it as soon as the weather breaks.
Just asking: I rotate the cam with the bolt on the crank, can I visible see when the pressure is least? Since both sides are done independent I would expect the position would be different on both. correct?
Attached is a photo of the tools I made when I did the tensioner job on my 98 in 2006. The tools took me under an hour to make & worked fine. Overall an easy job
Yea, I feel the same way. My Mechanic is a personal friend and he is just very scared and thinks he could possibly break my car. it only has 47K and very clean.
I read all the posts on upper tensioners, I am going to do it as soon as the weather breaks.
Just asking: I rotate the cam with the bolt on the crank, can I visible see when the pressure is least? Since both sides are done independent I would expect the position would be different on both. correct?
Since you're doing one side at a time you can rotate the engine between jobs. It's easy to see when the exhaust lobes are not depressing the valves. Just be sure you rotate clockwise as seen from the front.
The dipstick tube is easy if you follow motorcarman's procedure: do not remove the dipstick, pull the dipstick tube out of the block and you can move it out of the way. As long as the dipstick is not removed the tube will go back in easily.
