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Engine & DrivetrainDiscussions about the engine and drivetrain of your vehicle.
This is a discussion thread titled "Broken Belt Tensioner!", within the Engine & Drivetrain forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
Newbie here, but I was wondering something. I have a 2000 SR5 with the 4.7L V8. I went to replace my serpentine belt on friday and after i got the belt off, my tensioner pulley was kind of wobbly. Upon further inspection, the spindle that the pulley rides on (its supposed to be molded to the tensioner) was broken off and just sitting on the pulley bolt. The belt had started squeaking pretty bad last week, thats why i was replacing it to begin with. I don't know if i broke the thing when i had the breakover on it to get the belt off, or if it was broken before and thats what was causing the squeaking. I had to order the part from the Toyota dealership and will put it on tomorrow (hopefully! I miss my truck already!). Anyone heard of this happening before, or have any idea what kind of job it will be to replace the tensioner? I'm a college student on a limited budget and i have already driven the truck out of the 3/36 warranty period (i think i have about 48,000 on the clock). The part was only 70 bucks, i just hope its not a royal pain to change. It doesn't look too bad and i've done them before on chevy's, so we'll see. any advice or info would be appreciated though!!
I just had the dealer replace the tensioner on my 2001 Tundra because my belt was squeeling. I also have the 4.7L V8 engine with about 16000 miles. The service manager told me that it was a 5.0 hour job! It didn't look too tough to change, but I noticed that they invoiced antifreeze which tells me that they removed some hoses to get to the tensioner. Sorry I couldn't be more help.
we have changed many tensioners due to belt chatter. It does
involve removing the ps pump and altenator--not out of the truck
but out of the way. Tensioner is on a large module bracket sandwiched between them. Have to remove the upper water neck.
at first we changed both tensioner and belt. Lately we've only seen a few and we are only putting on belts. Will see how it works out for the customers. The squeak is from the dry smooth side of the serpentine. When you hear the chatter or flutter, do the tensioner. Still too early to tell if this is a pattern.
Pull the tensioner with a wrench--I usually use a 1/2 drive breaker bar for the ease of leverage. If the tensioner has any front to rear thrust, change it. You probably just have a dry belt.
Do the belt first and check the tensioner. It's not a matter of the tensioner loosing spring pressure, but the idler on it kicks in and out under different loads. Weird.
I actually was hosing out my engine compartment (with a very light spray) and got a bit of water on the belt. That seemed to fix my squeal. Then I squirted a bit of Tri-Flo Lubricant on the belt. It hasn't squealed since so I am going to leave it alone.
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"You play the hand you're dealt. I think the game's worthwhile." -C. S. Lewis
I had the squeal on my truck (27000 miles) mostly on hot humid days. I would get it at startup and it would continue for several miles. Unlike Agent WD if I turned my air conditioner on the squeal would mostly stop. Took the truck into the service dept yesterday, they replaced the tensioner and belt. Seems to be fine now.
Originally posted by pellegran at first we changed both tensioner and belt. Lately we've only seen a few and we are only putting on belts. Will see how it works out for the customers. The squeak is from the dry smooth side of the serpentine. When you hear the chatter or flutter, do the tensioner. Still too early to tell if this is a pattern.
Pellegran, is that tension just loosened, the belt replaced, and then just tightened?
Or is there more to replacing the belt? Mine started squeeling with the colder weather. I guess it will go away when summer comes, but I'll swap the belt anyway.
I'm hoping the tensioner is automatic and it's just a matter of loosening a bolt to remove tension and then retightening it to a "full stop" position after the new belt is on.
Thanks for any info. I'm sure it will help the guys on here as I think there are going to be a LOT of belts changed.
Has replacing the tensioner reduced recurrance more than just replacing the belt? Toyota might change the belts over time to reduce recurrance unless those are semi-generic belts they use on a lot of their engines.
Broken Belt Tensioner!
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