I have been having an issue with the tensioning components of my timing belt. I recently changed my timing belt for a second time. After pulling the pin on the tensioner, everything worked great. I patched everything together and drove the car around for a day. Then, the next day, I start the car and it sounds like a diesel!

Upon inspection, it turns out that the tensioner lever that is supposed to push against the shaft that sticks out of the back of the tensioner pulley/roller got wedged under the shaft. As a result, the lever could not push the shaft appropriately and the pulley would not tighten the belt. The section of timing belt between the passenger-side cam sprocket and the crank sprocket was not properly tensioned - it was loose!

Anyhow, I reset the lever against the shaft and sure enough, everything sounded great! Then, the next day, the diesel clatter came back and the same thing happened - the lever wedged under the shaft. This has happened to me three times. I'm either doing something wrong or the tensioner that I have is not pushing hard enough against the lever to prevent the belt from pushing the shaft off the surface of the tensioner lever. I doubt it is the later because the piston is VERY difficult to push back in...

Surely this has happened to someone out there. Are there any ideas on how we can all prevent this from happening?

Thanks in advance for all any help!