Flash
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- July 5, 2004
- Messages
- 1,799
- Reaction score
- 5
- City, State
- Brisbane Australia
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1997 Limited
The belt tensioners fail when the two halves come loose and allowing the pulley and the arm it's mounted on to slip past the stop and cease to put tension on the belt.
You can see the gap between the two halves and it wobbles around.
What I can't see is how it happens, it's like a spacer washer evaporates or something.
So I experimented with one, I bolted the tensioner assembly to a convenient threaded hole on the head of a spare motor I had lying around in a spare Explorer that was also lying around and rotated the pulley arm until it hit the stop. When you can see the 2 ends of the clock spring inside line up you know it's in the right position.
Then I clamped the cover down onto the body of the tensioner using locking pliers. This closes up the gap and prevents the pulley arm from slipping past the stop.
I then unbolted the assembly from the head and prised off the washer that holds the spring cover on.
I placed a spacer under that washer then replaced the retaining washer.
When I let the locking pliers go there was a much smaller gap between the spring cover and the body, the two spring ends remained lined up and the pulley arm didn't slip past the stop.
Just like a bought one.
I reinstalled it and so far it's working like a champ.
The temporary spacer I installed was a split ring, it's hard find washers that are the right diameter with the right size hole and thickness.
I briefly looked at a wedding ring but rejected it and I once used the dishwasher to clean my pistons so you know I'm serious about this stuff.
Also the part of the cover that the spacer bears on is thin and fragile so I'm going to do something else with the other tensioner I have.
I'm going to epoxy glue an Australian 20c piece with the appropriate sized hole drilled in it to go under the retainer washer, that will keep that whole area strong and will reduce the gap between the cover and body.
I really don't see how this won't last forever now but I couldn't see how the old system went wrong either.
Other ideas I had were to use polyurethane at Shore hardness 20 under a washer or build the whole area up with Q-bond.
You can see the gap between the two halves and it wobbles around.
What I can't see is how it happens, it's like a spacer washer evaporates or something.
So I experimented with one, I bolted the tensioner assembly to a convenient threaded hole on the head of a spare motor I had lying around in a spare Explorer that was also lying around and rotated the pulley arm until it hit the stop. When you can see the 2 ends of the clock spring inside line up you know it's in the right position.
Then I clamped the cover down onto the body of the tensioner using locking pliers. This closes up the gap and prevents the pulley arm from slipping past the stop.
I then unbolted the assembly from the head and prised off the washer that holds the spring cover on.
I placed a spacer under that washer then replaced the retaining washer.
When I let the locking pliers go there was a much smaller gap between the spring cover and the body, the two spring ends remained lined up and the pulley arm didn't slip past the stop.
Just like a bought one.
I reinstalled it and so far it's working like a champ.
The temporary spacer I installed was a split ring, it's hard find washers that are the right diameter with the right size hole and thickness.
I briefly looked at a wedding ring but rejected it and I once used the dishwasher to clean my pistons so you know I'm serious about this stuff.
Also the part of the cover that the spacer bears on is thin and fragile so I'm going to do something else with the other tensioner I have.
I'm going to epoxy glue an Australian 20c piece with the appropriate sized hole drilled in it to go under the retainer washer, that will keep that whole area strong and will reduce the gap between the cover and body.
I really don't see how this won't last forever now but I couldn't see how the old system went wrong either.
Other ideas I had were to use polyurethane at Shore hardness 20 under a washer or build the whole area up with Q-bond.
