Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance Is the timing belt tensioner adjustable?

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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Originally posted by MeanGreen2:

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Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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No it's not. It's because I'm sick and barely can type right now. It is right to a degree, that some correct tools are needed to do certain things on a car. But not again, a piece of metal is a piece of metal when it comes to the cam holding tool,

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It's not a holding tool, it's an alignment tool.


I know that, sorry I didn't use the correct wording.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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ask anybody on here and they'll tell you if it's long enough/slim enough/strong enough, then it'll work. Though I'm looking at it more from a diy stand point, but I still wouldn't have a problem with a mechanic using a $2 file instead of a $30 piece of metal from ford to keep the cams in the correct position.

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I don't believe that. If a mechanic whipped out a backbone of a rainbow trout and said..."Hey, it works!"...you'd probably think...Hell, why am I paying this guy to do this, I could do that myself.


You/I/Anybody can do it themselves.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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I don't see any other professionals in this thread, so why are you even talking about what a professional should do?

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Didn't Caltour try going to the professionls? You've been to the pros, others have been to the pros...so my advice should come in handy for those that go to the pros, and even the ones that don't.


It doesn't come in handy if you suggest by $10k worth of tools to work on a car worth $2k-$5k.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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A professional knows what to have/do so you don't have to put it on here. I'd rather help somebody do it themselves.

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You think you know more than I do? How is knowing less better?

Didn't say that, I said I'd rather help someone do it themselves, rather than tell them the "by the book" way which they can easily find themselves (either in a book or on dvd/cd).

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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You're the kinda mechanic (like many, not all) that has a know-it-all attitude that would cause me, as a customer, to walk right out of your shop and go else where.

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SO...if you were to ask me about your car, and I were to say..."gee, d'uh...I don't know. D'oh!" while digging at my ear with an inkpen, you'd get real impressed and hand me your keys?

That would be a know-nothing attitude. But I've talked to mechanics that act like they are the ONLY person to ever work on a car and that the owner doesn't know anything about automobiles. You definitely seem to be one of those.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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And I don't think the same of all "professionals", I've been to two professional shops, and they couldn't make my CEL go away, but I spent more time with it and got it to go away, and this time stay away. All with my $85 worth of computer scanning software, and my cheap tools/autozone loaner tools.

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Must have been fairly simple...and I hope that you enjoyed paying those professionals your money. They seemed not to be "know-it-alls"...just how you like it.

Actually I didn't pay them a thing.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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Actually, it appears he was planning to get the pulley from a dealer in another state, but whatever.

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Keyword: Dealer

Keyword number 2 and 3: another state

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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I guess you didn't read/don't know what I said. I'm going into mechanical engineering. It's where I design what you work on.

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And you said that you think you coud make a living at it, but you don't like working on cars. So I guess we're back to my original question about you making a living at working on cars, since you're giving out advice about working on cars, not designing them.

Hmm, I work on my car out of necessity, and I give advice based on my experience and what obviously works. Even if you don't like it, other people appreciate it, and you can shove your head into your thousand dollar dvd to figure stuff out if you don't like how me and others on here do it ourselves.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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I have to disagree with you on the price of tools. The average shop owner will spend $100k+, even $200k+ on tools,etc. (this is doing more than just timing belts though,, there are actually plenty of small shops that just do small things like timing belts and spend comparably very little on tools),

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That's why I made mention of those that limit themselves to just certain jobs.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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but the average mechanic doesn't spend that much.

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I've seen mechanics spend $7,500+ just for a bottom tool box. And most mechanics I know from surrounding shops are expected to furnish all of their tools, while the *shop* takes care of the equipment...and that means that almost everyone that I see are spending $5 - $6k on OTC scanners, around $10k or so for Snap-On, etc...and that's just to get them started, has nothing to do with their other testers, their hand tools, etc...and if they don't have it, they buy it the next week when the toolman pulls up, because the others don't pass their tools around to the ones that don't like spending their own money for their own tools.


Remember, I said excluding all the computer stuff,etc. Yes I've seen people spend $7k+ on a tool box as well, I've seen people waste money on many things.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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My dad is a diesel truck mechanic and basically is the head mechanic where he works. He has spent a lot of money on tools, but by that I mean thousands, maybe $3k, $4k at most, not 10s of thousands. He has bought used tool boxs to save lots of money but of course only buys new tools. He has enough tools (save for air compressors, computers, lifts,etc.) to do basically anything to a diesel truck, and most passenger vehicles as well. I'm sure he has some specialized tools but ONLY if they are needed and no other tool can be substituted. And somehow he manages to do the job right because he doesn't want trucks coming back in to the shop.

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3k is absolutely nothing. I could [did] spend over 1k just to work on a few FWD wheel bearings/hubs, and that includes no hand tools...spent over that much [1k] for just one 3/4 drive *airgun*...$850.00 on a battery tester...$400.00 for a short tracer...$200.00 for a few sockets...just some basic stuff. But I don't work on that many diesel trucks...just work on Acuras - Volvos, and pretty much everything in between, bumper-to-bumper, like most modern shops.

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Yeah I guess $3k is absolutely nothing to you. But my Dad can't afford to throw aftermarket parts away as you can. Heck, he can't even afford aftermarket parts right now for his vehicles. He works bumper to bumper on diesel trucks though with that $3k or $4k worth of tools. The shop he works at and shops he has worked at have always provided the battery testers,short tracers, a/c equipment, computer stuff,etc. They do that because around here, mechanics aren't paid a whole lot and they certainly don't start out with much money, so they can afford to buy all that stuff. It must be nice to live somewhere where you can charge so much that you can buy tens of thousands dollars worth of tools and throw away aftermarket parts. I feel sorry for your customers that have to pay for your $7k tool box.

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