Sorry for the off topic. I replaced the timing belt in my wifes MK4 Jetta 2.0 and I am a bit confused on how to tension the timing belt. The Chiltons manual says to tension CCW until the pointer aligns to its mark. The tensioner has a CCW arrow.
Click to view attachment
I can't get the pointer to line up rotating CCW.
Now this post on vwvortex says to tension it by turning the eccentric CW.
I just dont know what to do. turning the eccentric CW loosens the belt.
So which way do I tension the belt CW or CCW? Any help is appreciated.
thanks

Edit: After deciding that the tensioner was bad I got a new one and installed it this afternoon. once I installed it and rotated it CCW the pointer quickly lined up with it's mark and I tightened it. With the first one the the pointer did not move even though the belt was being tensioned.
problem solved: bad part

How long did it take to do the job ? my son has a 2.0 golf and I bought him belt, tensioner and water pump.

curious Jeff

It should not take more than 2 hours max. Pretty straight forward job.

it's more than a two hour job (if I can watch you do it in less than 2 hours I'll buy you a beer).. it took closer to 8 hours from start to finish but I also flushed the cooling system replaced the failed water pump (the plastic impellers falls apart), thermostat (the bottom bolt was really hard to get to and I used a ball-end allen wrench), cam and crank oil seals, tensioner & TB (obviously), serpentine belt and serpentine tensioner.

The link I posted above is a good resource, but he is wrong when he says to tension the TB tensioner clockwise it is CCW and if the part is good it's easy to tension.

I bought my parts kit from Blauparts and I am disappointed that the tensioner was bad out of the box this caused a lot of confusion and added time & money. I still have to deal with trying to return it...

The engine mount needs to come out and once its loose raise the engine and weasel it out. Also it is recommended to replace the engine mount bolts (VW p/n n-905-969-06 & n-102-096-05 & crack bolts 06a-105-229).

I also had to make two tools to hold the crank and cam sprockets to get the bolts off w/o turning the engine and loosing my timing, I broke my chain wrench trying to hold the crank pulley with it; if your not changing the oil seals don't worry about this.

Also required were 16mm and 18mm sockets, a 12pt 19mm socket. I don't think it is necessary to remove the fuel rail hose like the book says and I did, if you don't mind working around it.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment