Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Hi All, hope everyone is well.

I have just replaced cambelt and water pump on my Rover 216 with the K16 Engine.

I saw a video saying how to set the correct tension on the automatic tensioner. The vid said to align the end of the spring with the metal notch, and when they are lined up facing eachother, the tension is correct, like shown in this pic :

https://ibb.co/c3fNJn6

however my neighbour who is slightly more knowledgable on cars ( and also self admittedly slightly paranoid) was worried the belt was too loose, and convinced me to taughten the belt slightly, the spring and metal notch on the tensioner do not line up, they are like shown;

https://ibb.co/kKhbYkK

The belt does feel firmer this way, there is still a small bit of slack on the belt between the cam sprockets, not much though, and I don't think I could twist the longest length of belt 90 degrees.

What is the correct way? Should I align the marks on the tensioner even if the belt feels slightly slack, I don't want to jump the belt but don't want to wreck any bearings either. Hope you can help CHEERS!


Picture of slack before I retensioned:

https://ibb.co/8cBYTNy

Picture of slack after I retensioned:

https://ibb.co/bKx0Hhw

Where is the tensioner pointer located when the engine is in the correct time to position?

First tensioner picture is correct - it should align like this after you’ve rotated the engine through 720 degrees. Your neighbour’s setting is definitely incorrect!

“Slack” is measured by twisting the belt on its longest run (so between the exhaust cam sprocket & crankshaft gear) - it should twist around 45 degrees to a maximum of 90.