What does the strain pulley do?
A travel belt tensioner is a pulley mounted on a spring mechanism or adjustable pivot point that can be used to keep tension on the engine belts. … Both are being used to keeptension on the engine serpentine belts in order that they can travel the many engine accessories.
How do you change a tensioner pulley?
Flip the adjustment bolt on the side, top or bottom of the pulley counterclockwise with the ratchet and socket before equipment belt is loose enough to eliminate. Tighten the tensioner pulley by turning the adjustment bolt clockwise with the ratchet and socket until the belt is tight.
How do I know
A tensioner pulley manuals the belt around the tensioner and allows the belt to spin while the tensioner maintains pressure against it. A failing tensioner pulley can cause power loss and harm to your belt-driven systems. You could have a failing tensioner pulley if you hear any squeaking or squealing beneath the hood. Bearings on the pulley can wear out, causing noise and warmth. Pulleys are usually made of either plastic or metal, so verify the pulley itself for just about any damage aswell. At O’Reilly Automobile Parts, we have tensioner pulleys available for many vehicle models.
The programmed pulley tensioner has an internal spring-loaded mechanism that keeps the serpentine belt under continuous tension. Its design enables it to keep carefully the serpentine belt taut, so that the other item pulleys rotate at the same rpm (revolutions per minute) while beneath the same safe pressure. Tensioner pulleys may also absorb gentle shock loads that happen when the air conditioning unit cuts on and off. As a continuously rotating component, the pulley tensioner can give off some indicators before failure.
Rust and Corrosion
The pulley tensioner sits exposed to the elements at the front of the engine. Subjected to puddled water “splash-up,” as time passes the tensioner arm and pulley system can rust. Corrosion can freeze the automated tensioner device or rot the shaft bearings, that will cause a frozen situation in the adjustment pressure. Without the correct tension, the belt can slip.
Debris Contamination
Rocks, gravel and other highway debris could be thrown up in to the tensioner pulley grooves and jam the mechanism. This can allow the serpentine belt to slide on the tensioner pulley and melt away. Overheated pulley temp results, and finally the serpentine belt will melt and snap off.
Pulley Tensioner Spring
The pulley tensioner spring inside housing can become weak from age and repeated contact with heat. This causes the belt to flutter and skip rather than maintaining a constant strain on the pulley. Symptoms of a poor spring demonstrate as glazing on the underside of the serpentine belt, with an occasional flickering of the dashboard’s charging mild indicator. Squealing or squeaking will be noticed at the belt area.
Pulley Wobble
If the tensioner pulley wobbles on its shaft, this means the inside shaft bearings have worn. This may cause a pulley misalignment. Awful bearings cause an audible growling noise. The outer ends of the serpentine belt will fray and stretch out the belt. Sooner or later the rubberized belt grooves flatten out and trigger significant slippage. An excessively wobbling pulley can toss the belt off, triggering all the gadgets to quit functioning.
Lever Arm Freeplay
Some tensioner pulleys have markings on the casing that indicate the maximum range that the pulley can travel. If the lever arm of the tensioner rides under or higher the designated mark, this implies a stretched belt or a lever arm that has jammed in a single position.
Pulley Misaligment
The tensioner pulley face must match up to the other accessory pulleys with a parallel alignment. Placing an extended, straightedge ruler against the face of the tensioner pulley, and then flushing it against another equipment pulley, can gauge the angle. Any off-position measurement indicates put on shaft bearings in the pulley casing.
Serpentine Belt Noise
A moderately put on serpentine belt gives off a constant squeaking noises during engine idle. Belts that contain worn severely project a loud chirping or squealing appear. The cause factors to a glazed, put on or cracked belt. Dried out or partially frozen tensioner pulley bearings could cause such sounds by wearing out the belt prematurely.
Lever Arm Oscillation
A lever arm that repeatedly oscillates backwards and forwards during idle or more speeds means the the inside damper mechanism in the tensioner pulley has weakened or broken. This causes sporadic tension strain on the belt and can manifest itself with intermittent chirping noises.