How does a drive belt tensioner work on a car?
In order to keep the proper tension on your vehicle’s serpentine belt, a drive belt tensioner is used. This is a pulley that is either mounted to an adjustable pivot point or a spring mechanism. If you open up the hood of your car, you’ll see that the serpentine belt is on the front of your engine. It is the long one.
How to diagnose a belt tensioner problem?
USE A WEAR GAUGE. See this post on how to check a belt for wear. Using the proper tool, rotate the belt tensioner to release tension. Remove the serpentine belt. The tensioner should rotate smoothly during compression and during release. Any binding, no matter how small is an indication of a serious tensioner problem.
Where can I find the cheapest belt tensioners?
We can help you get right to the tensioner or kit you need within just a few clicks of the mouse. Simply select the make, model, year and engine type of your vehicle and you instantly see every product that fits. We not only make shopping for your gear incredibly easy, but we also have the lowest prices on belt tensioners.
When do you need to replace serpentine belt tensioner?
If you see more, the dampening mechanism is worn and the tensioner must be replaced. If the serpentine belt tensioner arm moves more than 1/32″ while engine is running, the vibration dampener in the tensioner is worn out.
What do you need to know about a belt tensioner?
The belt tensioner’s first job is to maintain the proper tension on the serpentine belt. That’s easy enough, you just build a tensioning device with a strong enough spring to keep the belt at the correct tension. The tensioner also has to compensate for belt wear and stretch.
Can a worn belt tensioner damage an alternator?
It’s just the opposite. A worn tensioner actually increases tension on the belt and that increased tension can damage the nose bearings on your AC compressor, power steering pump and alternator. Here’s why.
When to replace serpentine belt tensioner — Ricks free?
A good belt tensioner will dampen the power pulses so much that the tensioner pulley arm barely moves. As the dampener wears the pulses cause the belt to flutter and that can be seen on the pulley arm. A belt tensioner pulley arm should not move more than 1/32”.
Is the timing belt on a Chevy Spark maintenance?
Nor will Spark owners get to hear “The timing belt is only an arm, but while we are in there we should also change out that water pump, so in total it will be an arm and a leg.” Indeed in a press release today Chevy has confirmed that it does not consider the timing chain on the Spark a maintenance item.