Tensioners...do they fail?

[Clacker]

Hey Guys,

I'm due for a coolant change and wondering if I should change my pulley tensioner.

My current belt is a few years old but last time a new belt showed as needing to be replaced on the markings.

Anyone had tensioner issues before, the car has done 260k but the idea of removing those coolant pipes worries me a little.

Thanks
Clacks

[Spaced]

Do you mean the belt or the pulley? or something else?

I have the tensioner pulley's replaced but only because they were noisy.

[Clacker]

Do you mean the belt or the pulley? or something else?

I have the tensioner pulley's replaced but only because they were noisy.

The tensioner itself. I have replaced the pulley.

Thanks

Clacks

[ephect]

yea i've replaced a tensioner arm before, only coz i stripped the bolt that holds the pulley on, didnt relise it was left hand thread..

yes the do 'fail' what happens is the spring that holds tension, gets 'loose' (for a better word) or looses its retension rate i spose and in worse cases they can get quite noisey..

not hard to do, but i believe u have to undo the alt and place that out of the way, drop the hose, i think its a heater hose, undo the bolts holding it on, replace and reverse the above proceedure.. but topping up fuild levels

hope it helps a lil

[Clacker]

hope it helps a lil

yeah it does, thanks. Any idea how much fluid you lose when changing it over or is it pretty much a refill?

Clacks

[ephect]

nar u dont loose too much from memory, which im starting to loose anyway.. who are u? jk

like u meantioned in ur first post, might as well do the tensioner arm and the coolant change the same day.. ur gonna lose some fuild anyway, best to drop it all, give it a quick flush (how-to section details this well) and ur ready to roll again.

[Slow VR]

They sometimes generally make clacking or clicking noises when they fail.

[hako]

Clackers - why do you want to replace the tensioner? - unless its worn so bad that it makes the pulley run off-line it should be OK?

[AttaBoy]

Don't forget to bleed the coolant when you top it up after you replace the tensioner!!!