@KrissAlpha, let’s see if you can clear something up for me. In the photo where you show the side cover removed, there’s a small black cover with three screws that you haven’t taken off. I think it lines up right with the belt tensioner. Could you confirm if removing that cover gives access to the tensioner so it can be adjusted?
I found mine like this…
And this is how “great” the belt was…
https://youtube.com/shorts/g2CTvWl4W-o?feature=share
The “funny” thing is that it’s been like this for about 10,000 km. The car still runs as smoothly as the first day. There’s no jerking, loss of power, weird idling, or anything at all except for that little noise. I’ve looked with the borescope through the spark plug holes and there isn’t a single mark on any cylinder or piston (Phew). It doesn’t look like it has suffered any damage.
I posted a while ago about a noise that appeared and I’m afraid this is the source… I’ll get to work on it tomorrow. If it’s just a matter of taking off the cover and tightening it, it’ll be a win, because I already saw myself taking everything apart…
At least the belt looks good and doesn’t seem damaged; it still has a couple of years or 40,000 km left before it needs changing. Even so, at the next oil change, I’m going to look very closely for any metal shavings.