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[zambon]

Hi
I removed the timing belt cover from my recently aquired milano´s 3 liter and noticed that the belt is riding the cam gears way out in front. It is hanging off the front of the cam gears by at least one mm. I saw some marks on the inside of the timing belt cover that indicated rubbing.

The belt is riding normally on the other pulleys, it just hangs off the front on the cams. I am concerned that at best, this will lead to premature failure of the belt. At worst, I fear that it could increase the likelihood of a dreaded skip.
I also noticed that the engine is equipped with a fixed mechanical tensioner. Maybe it is the Zat tensioner. This fact does not bother me too much because I dont have to worry about breaking springs or leaking oil. I do immagine that I should expect to replace the timing belt more often with this tensioner.

Anybody have any opinions or suggestions for me regarding this setup?

[shures]

Check that the auxiliary shaft drive gear (or toothed pulley) is correctly seated against the shaft. The factory proceedure may state to remove this pulley even though it is not really necessary and it is easy to reinstall it with it not properly seated. I have done this myself although it was such a gross error I immediately caught and corrected it.

Otherwise, I would verify proper installation of the Zat device including alignment and the integrety of the bearing it carries. Tom has the instructions on his web site (Alfa Heaven) and it is really pretty easy to trouble shoot. I made a tool to hold the cam sprockets in alignment while the belt is off that saves a bit of time but otherwise it is really straight forward. My only fear would be if the fasteners have lossened on the tensioner itself...that indicates a lack of thread locker and a careless install.