it may be different on most 406's but i have the 2.1td which I'm led to believe is a slightly rarer animal these days. Anyway, as you can see, the section of the tensioner body that is behind the square drive hole that fits into the engine has quite an inset on, and it's this part that causes an issue, because a combination of this shaped part, and the 19mm bolt that holds it to the car that comes undone but can't be removed due to the chassis being in the way and the part that this bolt screws into protruding outward means you can't twist the thing at any kind of angle to get it off, it doesn't clear, I've removed the tensioner wheel, took the engine off its mount and jacked it up, and levered the whole engine over, and believe me, it will not not NOT come out, all you end up doing is jamming the whole lot at a stupid angle between the engine and the chassis.
Alternator/power steering belt
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- 1.8 8v
- Posts: 35
- Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:45 pm
Re: Alternator/power steering belt
Nope, this is the tensioner that my car has...

it may be different on most 406's but i have the 2.1td which I'm led to believe is a slightly rarer animal these days. Anyway, as you can see, the section of the tensioner body that is behind the square drive hole that fits into the engine has quite an inset on, and it's this part that causes an issue, because a combination of this shaped part, and the 19mm bolt that holds it to the car that comes undone but can't be removed due to the chassis being in the way and the part that this bolt screws into protruding outward means you can't twist the thing at any kind of angle to get it off, it doesn't clear, I've removed the tensioner wheel, took the engine off its mount and jacked it up, and levered the whole engine over, and believe me, it will not not NOT come out, all you end up doing is jamming the whole lot at a stupid angle between the engine and the chassis.
it may be different on most 406's but i have the 2.1td which I'm led to believe is a slightly rarer animal these days. Anyway, as you can see, the section of the tensioner body that is behind the square drive hole that fits into the engine has quite an inset on, and it's this part that causes an issue, because a combination of this shaped part, and the 19mm bolt that holds it to the car that comes undone but can't be removed due to the chassis being in the way and the part that this bolt screws into protruding outward means you can't twist the thing at any kind of angle to get it off, it doesn't clear, I've removed the tensioner wheel, took the engine off its mount and jacked it up, and levered the whole engine over, and believe me, it will not not NOT come out, all you end up doing is jamming the whole lot at a stupid angle between the engine and the chassis.
Re: Alternator/power steering belt
Yes, I understand your problem.
Have you tried undoing the allen key in the pulley below the tensioner?
This pulley also has a square hole in it and is meant to swing to set initial tension....from memory only!!
Have you tried undoing the allen key in the pulley below the tensioner?
This pulley also has a square hole in it and is meant to swing to set initial tension....from memory only!!
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- 1.8 8v
- Posts: 35
- Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:45 pm
Re: Alternator/power steering belt
That's what I've done, I got as much initial tension on the tensioner as I could by levering against the wheel with the belt on and pulling the 19mm bolt nice and tight, then used the offset wheel under the tensioner with the smaller square drive to get a bit more on it, it is pretty tight, just slaps about like hell on tickover, I did try moving the throttle cable so it idles faster thus eliminating the problem but the electronics knew about it and adjusted itself accordingly, damn lol
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- 1.8 8v
- Posts: 35
- Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 6:45 pm
Re: Alternator/power steering belt
It threw the belt again, plus the windscreen is cracked all the way from the bottom to the top, and ive also discovered that the rear brakes arent working, she's dead 
The scrap lorry is on its way as we speak, being given £175 for it too which isnt bad at all, thats only 75 quid less than i paid for it.
I now have a metallic orange volvo v40 estate, bags of room for me the missus a teenager and a baby.

The scrap lorry is on its way as we speak, being given £175 for it too which isnt bad at all, thats only 75 quid less than i paid for it.
I now have a metallic orange volvo v40 estate, bags of room for me the missus a teenager and a baby.