How do you tighten up timing belt on a1994 Isuzu Rodeo V6 engine. I think the hydraulic tension pulley was loosened (but re-tightened..& the other tension pulley as well). But my belt is not tight.

It seems that certain 1994 DOHC engines don't accept the "new" belts and pulleys well. Early in 94 they had a tensioner pulley with a eccentric hole in it. To tighten you would simply set the belt on the pulleys correctly then release the hydraulic tensioner by pulling out the pin (compress the plunger on a vice, insert a pin in the hole install the piston assy ,check the positions of the pulleys, then release he pin) If the belt was loose you could take off the piston assy then turn the eccentric tensioner bearing to tighten. Those parts are not available. They went to a two piece system with no adjustment. You put the new one piece tensioner pulley on, Then after setting the belt and other pulleys correctly, install the hydraulic tensioner piston and pull the pin. On most 94's this works fine with the tensioner contacting the belt with sufficient force to tighten it. But on mine with even the factory belts the piston (even the factory one) reaches full extension before the belt is tight. Result.tick tick tick....... There should only be about a 1/4 inch gap between the face of the tensioner and the face of the piston assembly. If more tick tick tick. There is no other adjustment. I think everyone economized they now make the parts with the minimum material and things got smaller, belts got thinner, etc and people like us were lost in the tolerance build up. So I machined the hydraulic piston assembly to elongate the mounting holes thus moving the entire assembly about 1/4 inch towards the tensioner pulley assembly. I left about 1/16 inch material on the "away" side of the holes. Some locktight and JB weld to add support to the part and it works great. no ticking at all and no belt flap either. A thick belt would do the trick too as would a bearing on the tensioner pulley that was 1/4 - 1/2 inch greater in diameter. I couldn't find one. Don't ask for a photo. This is not coming apart for another 60K miles which at the rate I drive, is never.