replacing 17d diesel cam belt

I wonder if anyone can help?.. for the last 13 years I have owned a
virtually trouble-free Astra 1.6 petrol estate and have replaced the cam
belt on several occasions, I have never experienced any problems setting the
belt tension by twisting it through 90 degrees.

However I have just acquired a very sound diesel version which is fitted
with the 17D engine, not knowing when the belt was last changed I would like
to replace it as soon as possible, I appreciate that I will have to use a
cam shaft alignment tool , however on the several sources I have looked at
there appears to be dire warnings about failing to use a tension meter, can
I still use the method I used on the old petrol version, or will this lead
to premature belt failure?

Thanks in advance.

 

If I remember correctly the tension pulley has markers on it, So you can
tell if it has the correct tension.
Don't think it matters if the belt snaps, it's not know as an interference
engine

 

Thanks, but as far as I can gather the 17D engine still retains the water
pump as the adjuster, it's the17DR and 17DTL engines that have the
tensioner.

 

Had one of these - - if the cambelt breaks it damages the engine. The
valve rockers are designed to break (on the Vauxhall engine) and are
relitivly cheap to replace. However the engine can be damaged such that
the cylinder head has to come off to replace a bent valve (he says
looking at the £300 bill).
I strongly advise you to change the water pump and belt tensioner at the
same time.
Guess how I found out?
Dave

 

Thanks Dave for your comments, however I still need to know if it's possible
to ajust the belt 'by eye', or whether It's 'essential' to use the correct
tensioning meter and cam locking tool, in which case unless I can hire a kit
at a reasonable price, it may be cheaper and a lot less hassle to get the
job done through a local Vauxhall agent.

 

Any decent Garage will be able to do the job. They have a book with
tools and settings etc. Last but one cambelt change on SWMBO Astra ('94
1.7D no turbo) cost about £100. Water pump replaced at the same time
because there was excessive play in the bearings. It was making a
horrendous knocking noise, a very, very lound metalic "clack". Belt
broke 18 months later because of a "forign object in the casing". Hey Ho
goodbye £300 (rocker arms etc).
Dave

 

Thanks again for your input Dave, I was lucky with this one, I recently
bought it for £200, H Reg with 117,000 miles on the clock, two local owners
[I knew the last one] and body wise in virtually showroom condition, so
worthwhile spending money on getting it up together, there was only 50 miles
on the clock between the last two MoT certificates!

The previous owner had died and his widow just wanted to be rid of it,
however I don't think the months of standing around without being used has
done it any favours, as judging by the amount of juddering when accelerating
and de-accelerating I suspect an engine mount/s have given up the ghost,
otherwise a very nice drive, so tomorrow it looks like another thing that I
will have to try and find out about is would it be advisable to change all
three mounts, how difficult would that be, and roughly how much would it
cost?

 

No idea on costs I'm afraid.
There is a throttle damper fitted above the injector pump. On SWMBO
Astra it had seiezed making the throttle action very stiff there was a
little judder when it was removed.
Water in the diesel filter (replace it about £8) or oil/rust on the
clutch face would also cause the same judder. Don't know how much
clutches cost but there wasn't a lot of adjustment left on the old Astra
when it was part/exed last week at 95,000 miles so yours could be shot?
Dave

 

Again thanks for your pointers Dave, however I'm pretty certain that it's an
engine mount/s, especially as the guy who put it through its MoT reckoned
that one was 'soft', I'll let you know how I get on.