camshaft belt tensioner locknut torque is 33 ft lbs???

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

The Bently, page 44, Technical data, tightening torques, engine, lists the camshaft belt tensioner locknut torque being 33 ft lbs. That seems excessive to me for a bolt with a 13 mm head. Seems like it should be more like 18 ft lbs. What am I missing?

[theman53]

Nope, you want that tight so that it doesn't loosen ever and cause slack and bad timing to your engine.

[Quantum TD]

All the nuts/bolts on the timing belt (minus crankshaft sprocket) get 45 n/m or 33 ft-lbs. I usually go an extra 1/4 turn on the camshaft, since there  is no key and it's a moving part. Just don't hammer the snot out of it. You'll have a hell of a time getting it off in the future.

[vanagonturbo]

13mm head? What kind of engine are you working on??

Most of the engines discussed in this section of the forums involve studs for the tensioner which are 10mm OD and have either 17mm or 15mm nuts. 33ft lbs is correct for a 10mm stud. If you have a 13mm nut, it would likely be an 8mm stud and you should NOT torque to 33ft lbs.

We kinda need to know what you are dealing with..

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

My mistake! It's a 15 mm nut on the tensioner. When I saw the cam and IP sprocket bolt takes a 19 mm socket and is torqued to 33 ft lbs and the belt tensioner takes a much smaller socket I thought 33 ft lbs was too high.

[theman53]

Cam sprocket should be 45. At 33 some people here have had them slip and kill the head. That 19mm head means 12mm threads and it will take it. Don't overdo it as the press fit on the cam needs to come off the next time you need to time it.

[R.O.R-2.0]

i ran 52 ft lbs for some reason, on a few different engines, and it came back apart after a few sharp whacks from my dead blow..