Timing belt tensioner pulley

Hey yall,
I am trying to do a timing belt job and I installed a brand new timing belt tensioner, but as soon as I torque it up to spec, it is incredibly stiff, and I can't move it up and down. I realized after that I accidentally lost the washer that was supposed to go on the backside of the pulley, so I just got a thick washer from home depot to see if that would help the cause at all, and it didn't. so I guess my question is, does that original washer have some sort of special sizing or something to make the pulley have little resistance when you try to move it? and if so I guess I'd have to try to find that one? Just seeing if anyone else has had this battle and maybe has some direction for me.

hopefully that made sense, I'm not a mechanic but figured I would give this a go.
Thank you in advance for any, and all help

 

The washer if i remember right is made specifically for the tensioner pulley. A regular store bought one won’t work. Without the washer you’ll get the resistance you’re experiencing

 

It needs to contact only the passthrough bolt. Not the pulley housing.

 

Yup. Went out and checked on my spare motor. It’s just sized perfectly to the bolt so it contacts the sleeve

 

I like to drop it in the coolant bucket.

 

yea.. i've gone on hunts for those damn washers when i have a "oops"

 

Awesome, thanks for the help!! Any chance you have a photo of that just for reference when I'm looking for a new one?

 

Just got a new washer from Toyota for that specific piece, and it still is stiff as hell when i try to move it, and nowhere near torque spec... any other ideas? maybe the pulley housing is the wrong one for my truck? not sure.

 

@Bishop84 any thoughts? thanks for the help

 

How’s the old one feel when bolted up

 

It was fine, lots of play in it when moving it around but I threw it out already because I had everything all bolted up, drove it around for a couple days, then realized I wasn’t sure if I tightened this hex 10 tensioner pulley so i stripped it down again, and when I went to tighten it to spec it didn’t want to move at all, which is when I made the original post

I should’ve kept the old one around for a bit but mistakes were made

 

There isn’t a lot of rust on the shoulder of the bolt right?