Thread: Drive belt tensioner, design difference 1999 to late model D2?

My 1999 D2 has a drive belt tensioner with the pully bearing held to the tensioner with a left hand thread bolt. I purchased a new bearing, and received in the box, bearing, washer, stepped spacer, and right hand threaded bolt.The bearing, made in Italy, was different in appearence to the original, by that I mean it actually looked better made.[ took the cover off, very little grease though] I had a spare drive belt [ made in Italy, for LR. ] that when fitted, was obviously a fraction too big for my vehicle. My vehicle is non- ACE , and the spare belt supposedly as well. Went back, swapped the belt ,all ok. Now, my question is, has my left hand threaded belt tensioner been superceded by the right hand threaded one, and could the new italian made belt be designed for it? This poses the question, should I replace my tensioner with the model to fit the new bearing, and what spare belt should I carry? Cheers, Bob

Bob I can't speak specifically about the D2, but on my Td5 Def. the tensioner pulley has a left hand thread because the belt drives the pulley in an anti clockwise direction, thus tightening the bolt if the bearing was to have resistance. If the D2 is the same I would not replace it with a right hand threaded bolt as you are likely to lose the pulley. I would guess that the pulley you have has been designed for a different vehicle.

Cheers, Mick.