The darn timing belt tensioner fell off sometime today on my 90 legacy wagon. I heard this funny noise (belt slap) coming from under the hood while it was still in the driveway so I got out to investigate, popped the hood and to my dismay the timing belt tensioner was just sitting there between the belt and the block. WTF!!! You mean to tell me all 4 bolts just happened to wiggle out of the block!! It's going back on and it's getting loc-tite this time. Has anything like this ever happened to anyone else? Should I do the timing belt before I put it back on? I don't know when the belt was done last but I can tell you the marks on the belt are gone. Anybody have any timing belt tips? For installation that is.

I had a similar problem. I replaced the belt and forgot to release the hydraulic tensioner(pull the pin). After i put all the plastics on i started it and heard what I thought was pulley on plastic, so I dismissed it. About 3k miles later my car just died, 2 blocks frome my house, after going on a 200mile trip. So I pushed it to a gas station and took the plastics off, and found the tensioner bolt had snapped. Lucky for me, that whole plate come off. No drilling or easy outs.

It's back on and working like a charm...Still I have to say "WTF!"