Tensioner Pulley replacement

[ButtonIt]

My tensioner pulley (non AC serp) is squealing like a teenage girl. I've looked online and they range from about £30 on ebay for a Rangie 4.6 version up to £50 from some TVR specialists. Is there any difference?

[Hedgehopper]

You might be able to press out the bearing and just replace that...haven't tried it though.

[phillpot]

Hedgehopper said:

You might be able to press out the bearing and just replace that...haven't tried it though.

Did that when I had my "serp" Chimaera, from memory the bearing is sort of moulded in, you may have to trim a little plastic off to get it out ?


Get numbers off old bearing and find new one, probably about a fiver

[ButtonIt]

A squirt of GT85 is doing the trick, temporarily.....

[Pupp]

Increase the budget slightly and invest in a JE alternator bracket to do away with the useless piece of crap and save significant weight/space. Added bonus of posting rights in the 'this is the way the tensioner clamp fits' debate. No brainer!

[JWzed]

Mine was making a hell of a noise. Took it off thinking I would press out the bearing, take the number and buy a replacement from a bearing specialist at minimum cost. Trouble was the old bearing had seized solid and was turning in the pully bearing housing. Bought a new unit from Racetech. Expensive but lot quieter now!

[JWzed]

Didn't know about that mod at the time. Looking at it on-line it looks to be a really sensible mod and I would have gone for it. I'll wait for this one to wear out now, then change.

[SILICONEKID346HP]

Pupp said:

Increase the budget slightly and invest in a JE alternator bracket to do away with the useless piece of crap and save significant weight/space. Added bonus of posting rights in the 'this is the way the tensioner clamp fits' debate. No brainer!

Could the engine or auxillaries be damaged if the if the belt was set to tight ?. Why is it the tensioner pulley moves when I rev the car ?

The strain needs to go somewhere ,not sure about fitting a fixed belt on all those pulleys .

[Pupp]

SILICONEKID346HP said:

Pupp said:

Increase the budget slightly and invest in a JE alternator bracket to do away with the useless piece of crap and save significant weight/space. Added bonus of posting rights in the 'this is the way the tensioner clamp fits' debate. No brainer!

Could the engine or auxillaries be damaged if the if the belt was set to tight ?

Yes

SILICONEKID346HP said:

Why is it the tensioner pulley moves when I rev the car ?

Because the belt is stretching slightly.

SILICONEKID346HP said:

The strain needs to go somewhere ,not sure about fitting a fixed belt on all those pulleys .

So, don't fit one then. The tensioner clamp issue would only confuzzle anyways

Next!

[Sardonicus]

SILICONEKID346HP said:

Could the engine or auxillaries be damaged if the if the belt was set to tight ?. Why is it the tensioner pulley moves when I rev the car ?

The strain needs to go somewhere ,not sure about fitting a fixed belt on all those pulleys .

Not again Daz look Daz no tensioner and if it's good enough for Honda revving to 7k +

Edited by Sardonicus on Thursday 17th April 21:42

[TV8]

I put a post up about this recently and finally bought the JE kit today. One bit is out of stock and should ship next week.

[SILICONEKID346HP]

Sardonicus said:

ot again Daz

Would it give me another 3.8hp

[Sardonicus]

SILICONEKID346HP said:

Would it give me another 3.8hp

Sadly no

[SILICONEKID346HP]

Sardonicus said:

adly no

So what`s the attraction ?

[Sardonicus]

SILICONEKID346HP said:

So what`s the attraction ?

Simplicity & neatness

[ChimpOnGas]

Sardonicus said:

SILICONEKID346HP said:

So what`s the attraction ?

Simplicity & neatness

And no annoying & regular tensioner bearing failures!

I replaced my sprung tensioner four years ago and the bearing on that replacement has just started to become noisy on cold start.

It quietens up after a minute or so but I'm seriously thinking about going the JE route rather than just fit another sprung tensioner which aren't great quality in my opinion.

I dont see the sprung tensioner as essential anyway, its only advantage is idiots cant over tighten the belt, a JE bracket with the belt correctly tensioned will be fine.

Obviously over tensioning could lead to alternator bearing failure but a simple adjust/check using the old school 90 degree twist between thumb & forefinger on the longest run and I really can't see a problem.

Can someone tell me how much the JE bracket is and if the same length belt is used please?

If it's a reasonable price I'm going to bin the short lived poor quality sprung tensioner

[Pupp]

The belt is shorter... Have the number somewhere if needed and have posted it here before. Not difficult to source.

[ChimpOnGas]

Pupp said:

The belt is shorter... Have the number somewhere if needed and have posted it here before. Not difficult to source.

Thanks Pupp, If you can give us the number that would be great.

[Goaty Bill]

Mine failed at about 85k miles.
New one has been fine since.
While it was particularly annoying and inconvenient at the time, I didn't consider that to be 'short lived'.
If it seizes up again before 150k miles, I may perhaps change my opinion.

[Pupp]

7PK1580 on car with PAS and no AC... Was a fight to get on as right at inner end of adjustment but has been fine since fitting