Hi guys,
I had to take my rad out as it developed a small leak yesterday and I can't afford the down time. So I figured while i had some room I may as well look at my tensioner because my belt is cracked and chewed up on the one side. I have tried twisting on the pulley but it is tight and I can't get any movement from the tensioner body either but the pulley face is worn toward the front with a high ridge toward the engine. I am pretty sure this is the cause for the belt wear but how do you take the thing off. I can only see one bolt through the middle of the tension spring area and I don't want the thing to spring apart on me. Oh yeah I have read here that you guys can buy this part for about $30.00 well I priced it at NAPA last week and my Canadian dollar price is $175.00, what a rip off. Also while I was in the front of the motor I checked and adjusted my tach p/u clearance to .048 as per Wannadiesel suggestion.
Any help with the tensioner will be appreciated.
thanks

 

there is one bolt that bolts the aluminum bracket to the block. the one through the pulley is not the one. It won't spring apart on you. I paid $138 US for mine at NAPA; I bought the whole assembly, not just the pulley. That is the way to go. If the belt is riding off center it usually means that the bracket is worn out.

 

I just did mine yesterday, take the belt off and just un bolt.

 

I used a 3/8 drive and a small pipe to release the tension on the belt. Those things are can be a little hard.

 

Your tensioner is definitely worn out. Try the discount auto parts stores (I don't know who you have up in Canada) because I can go to my local auto parts store and get the tensioner for about $70 (Dayco brand). I guess that's around $100 cdn?

You can get just the pulley for $30 down here, but the whole tensioner assembly is what you need. The odd wear on the pulley has been caused by the tensioner pivot point being worn out, that makes the pulley ride crooked on the belt. A new pulley won't fix it.