decided to replace the timing belt and water pump on a motor I bought from a guy on craigslist. After loosen the bolt, I found little pieces of aluminum strips. Replaced the timing belt, and can tighten the bolt...but not all the way. Belt looks secure, but there is still bit of slack on it.

I'm thinking of going to sears and buying a re-treader tool or tap and die...want to know if anyone's done the same or was in the same boat before. TIA.

 

anyone?

 

Do you mean the tensioner bolt bore? Hard to believe you or someone else could have stripped this bore unless the tensioner was replaced. Anyway, since it's an aluminum block you shouldn't have too much trouble with this. Get a helicoil or drill and tap to a larger size. Helicoil is probably the better option since the bolt will still end up the same size as original. I'm not too sure how much slack there is in the tensioner slot.

 

when taking bolts off...I always go with the saying "lefty loosie...righty tighty" and when putting it back on, I always use my craftsman torque wrench and follow up on what my helms manual says to torque it to.

But yeah, I bought the helicoil...hope it works...m10x1.25