Dunno if anyone's had this happen to them...on the M74 the tension pulley assembly for the alternator belt decided to part company from the side of the engine. The belt is intact but both bolts that hold the tension assembly to the engine have sheared!! a**e! Both are recessed shears so will need drilling out - double a**e!! THe bugger is that they look innaccessible without lifting the engine out - they're both in line with the chassis leg. I've yet to confirm but it looks like the lower one may be part of the alternator assembly so I may be able to whip that out to do the job. The upper one, however, is recessed within the timing cover, and I'm guessing it's part of the block or front cylinder head.

As a side note, I have noticed that a few bits of plumbing have not been reinstalled correctly, and it all points to the timing belt change done at the last service in 2004, for the previous owner by the Edinburgh Mazda dealer. AA chap suspected that both bolts were severely overtightened. Triple a**e.

Can anyone confirm my belief that this is an engine out job?

Cheers all, Ken.

I reckon it's an engine out job, unless someone can get it there with one of those right angle drills or you could remove one or two engine mounts and lift/lower the engine enought to gain access I reckon the AA bloke was pretty spot on (for a change ) with his assumption as well. Both of those bolts would have been removed to change the timing belt

Yup, I recokoned the same - tilting the engine a bit may be only slightly easier than getting the whole thing out. I'm still investigating the Mazda parts diagrams - the lower bolt seems to be part of the bracket that holds the ac pump - so that can come out to be worked on. The upper bolt may be into the inner timing cover, not the black plastic ones. Before I strip this down to look, is it a hefty alloy casting by any chance - 'cos if it is I may get away with just getting that out?!

I've got a shorter alernator belt for now (987mm) that just about goes on without the tension pulley, though I need to get it on in the same manner as winding on a bicycle chain - may be enough to get the car mobile, though high revs may be an issue.

Cheers, Ken.