[alfa] Zat Tensioner Vs Hydraulic in non-hydraulic mode Vs...

[alfacybersite <acs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Okay, I might have misspoken when I told Orville and Wilbur it would 
never fly, but when that German car came out in the 60's with a 
reinforced rubber belt rather than a good old timing chain, said, 
"There's gonna be nothing but trouble with that set-up."

Boy was I right (for once).

I gather with some makes of cars there are somewhat fewer problems than 
others (Alfa V6) but when one has a brand new invention which takes an 
old tried and true, virtually indestructible, part and turns it into an 
expensive / time consuming / trouble prone one which now becomes a 
regular replacement part when the car is serviced / breaks / 
dramatically slips - you have a situation of new technology being jammed 
down people's throats whether it works or not. NOT!

Even though I do have a shop manual for the GTV6 / Milano I'm not going 
to bother looking at the engine stuff - but if someone could come up 
with a case completely enclosing the timing "area" (carbon fiber?), 
change sprockets, install a simple chain tensioner as found on the 
4-cylinder's, and figure out how to get oil to it all - wouldn't life be 
so much simpler?

Sure, you'd have a little bit more noise going on under the hood, but 
how many of you V-sixers wouldn't exchange a little metallic racket for 
the piece of mind knowing the "belt" should now last almost until eternity?

Just a Sunday thought,

Biba
Irwindale, CA USA

(Quote from 10/04 Road & Track): "...mid-mounted 6.2 liter 4-cam V-12 
wrecking ball that gulps air and fuel and generates equal parts thrust, 
music and awe. Now with the Murcielago Roadster these sensory inputs are 
intensified. At most, a small square of window plastic and layers of 
canvas come between your ears and the mechanical concerto (emphasis on 
the whirring and clicking of the valvetrain)."

Next Sunday's sermon will be titled "Front Wheel Drive. Why?".
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