new problem with belt tensioner

[MrShorty]

My '92 has seems to have developed an irritating feature -- I can't release the tension on the serpentine belt. Standard procedure is to grab the tensioner pulley by the bolt, then rotate the pulley CCW to release tension. And that used to work just fine, but what else can happen if you rotate a standard thread bolt CCW? The bolt breaks loose and comes out. That's what mine has started doing, the bolt comes loose instead of rotating the pulley. Anybody else seen this? What did you do about it?

 

[mikeh44]

you need to change the tensioner assy it is locked up

 

[awood]

I wonder if my 92 Exp is different than my 94 Ranger with the same engine. I just replaced my Ranger tensioner because it was sloppy loose, but with that tensioner, there was a 3/8 inch square drive that you used to unload the belt. When it gets home later this afternoon, (I don't drive the Exp much) I'll go check.

 

[shamaal]

Bizarre, I've never heard of that happening although there have been several on the forum that disintegrated while running.

 

[cloaked_chaos]

I always use a non-marring crowbar and pry against the alternator pulley to get the belt off. Works great, no damage to anything if done carefully.

 

[schmidlkofer]

Bizarre, I've never heard of that happening although there have been several on the forum that disintegrated while running.

i used what is in the picture...except it was bigger

 

[mikeinri]

Based on a few assumptions...

1. The 92 is different than my 94 and has no square recess for a 3/8 drive breaker bar.

2. That picture posted from the 91 Navaho is the same as the 92 Explorer setup.

I agree with mikeh44, the tensioner needs to be replaced. I would cut the belt off. The pry bar might work and not damage anything, but cutting the belt will definitely work.

Just be out of the way if there's that much tension still on it.

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[Willard]

i always thought all of the ex's had the 3/8 drive hole...i know mine does, but its a '94 too

 

[MrShorty]

I appreciate all the responses.

The tensioner on my '92 doesn't have a hole, you're supposed to just grab the bolt.

I, too, was worried that the spring mechanism had seized up. Before I went and bought a new one, I decided to try something. I got my torque wrench out and torqued the bolt down to 30 ft lbs or so, then tried to back it off. The pulley cooperated this time and rotated out of the way without difficulty. I guess after 200K miles, that bolt had just come loose enough that it took less torque to break the bolt loose than to rotate the tensioner. Torqued the bolt back down, and now it's working as designed again.

 

[Tony H]

Whoa guys, I thought the Tensioner bolt was reverse threaded. It should be Tightening as you take the tension off the belt.

Am I wrong?

 

[MrShorty]

On mine it's normal thread. Can't speak for other applications that use the bolt to rotate the pulley. Seems like it would have been a good idea to make it reverse threaded, but not so in my case.

 

[mikeinri]

Wow, that's weird. I would have never thought to tighten it. Good catch!

Why are you removing it? Is the belt bad? I've been taught to replace the tensioner at each belt change. That's why I jumped to the conclusion to cut it off, figured you were replacing everything anyways...

Mike

 

[shamaal]

Mine also is a bolt, the picture shows a wrench I guess. The fan blades are always in the way. I don't know why the bolt isn't reverse threaded, perhaps it has Loc-Tite?. More reason to suspect that if it's loose, it would be wise to replace the entire tensioner. There are a couple pictures of these disintegrating.

Mine just froze, broke the belt, and the broken belt wrapped aound the water pump and broke the shaft. Made a tremendous racket for three months that I incorrectly attributed to the water pump.

 

[MrShorty]

I was getting the belt off so I could get the alternator off. The belts fine. I hadn't ever heard to replace the tensioner as a maintenance item. The bearings in the tensioner aren't rough, and it seems to function properly, but I'll keep that in mind next time I need to replace the belt.