The joys of ordering a belt tensioner assembly.

Well, last week the belt tensioner exploded on The Beast. The housing broke, the spring shot out, belt came off, all that fun stuff. Military tires + no power steering = . So I order a belt tensioner from Advance Auto. I go to pick it up on Memorial Day and realize that they forgot to tell me that they don't get deliveries on holidays. No big deal. Call O'Reilly's. "Yea, we have one in Greenville and we could have it sent to Washington by 3 p.m." Sweet, I'll be there. (Washington is about 20 minutes up the road.) So I go get it, drive all the way back, take it out of the box, and realize it's a powerstroke tensioner when I compare it to the old one. So I call them up (quite agitated by now) and the manager and I start doing some research. ALL 94 diesels have the same part number listed in O'Reilly's system. So I get one for a 93. I get there and it's the one with the visible spring not the enclosed spring. I drive another 45 minutes (one way) to get the Greenville store to get the right part. Then spent 30 minutes trying to get the new belt on. I finally decided the old belt was in good shape.

Moral of the story: After all weekend of aggravation, O'REILLY'S DOES NOT HAVE 1994 IDI TENSIONERS. ORDER FOR A 1993 MODEL. You would think after the fiasco trying to buy a starter from Advance (exact same problem, except they had all the different starters on the shelf) I would have just ordered for a 93 to begin with.

The 1993 is the exposed spring style, the 1994 is the closed spring style. I have both if you'd like a picture for comparison.

Sadly this is how our idi is looked at. In one year a person could purchase from Ford dealers a non turbo idi. A turbo idi and.. A powerstroke. What a logistical mess this must have been for any parts counter person. Now the new person be it man or beast trying to get you the CORRECT part really has no idea what or how to help you. My tensioner has been on and working fine for 9 years. Mine is the item with the shock absorber. I check it once a week as everything else under the hook. Staying ahead of the failure is how I stay off the sides of the roads. Glad you finally got what you needed and thanks for explaining the mysteries of "auto parts stores" these days.

Shawn, I figured it was something like that but both styles were listed under the 93 year model.

icanfixall, You should see the expressions I get when I rattle off "7.3 turbo diesel VIN number K". Then they look at their screen and realize they had 3 different diesels that year. It's quite amusing. My tensioner was squeaking for probably a month before it broke, so I guess I can't blame it too much.

The thing is you can't be what I like to call a "ignorant shopper."
They do show the right one. But you have to know how the system works. As stated, they have all 3 diesel options that year. You need to give them the engine code from the vin.
The biggest thing is you always need to do your research beforehand. That'll prevent the "Oh yeah, that looks right, then come to find out its the wrong one, because you don't even know what it should look like."
Going by application for belts is almost always a crap shoot. Even with the same engine, there were different options. Best to take the old one and have it measured.

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PART NUMBERS, PART NUMBERS, part numbers.
in the tech articles, there is a sea of info to help you get the right part the first time.
cant blame this one on the parts monkeys. thats ALLLL you!
around here, i dont give these knuckle fu(%s the option of screwing up, because they will.
i order things online now a days. knowing what you need, what parts do wear, and knowing that you wont beable to get it at the drop of the hat, will save you valuable time
oah yea if you order anything, i mean ANYTHING for a 94 ford F series diesel, 99.9% of the time there going to try to hand you a powerstroke part.

also knowing what parts you put on your truck helps. especially if you have 6 different years bolted up lol

You didn't look at the part before you left the store???

I learned a looong time ago, take the part out of the box, and look at it.

I just did the tensioner/idler on my truck last week. As the guy was clearing my check, I opened the box that supposedly had the idler pulley, only to find the metal tensioner pulley in the box.

Shawn MacAnanny said:

The 1993 is the exposed spring style, the 1994 is the closed spring style. I have both if you'd like a picture for comparison.

Click to expand...

Yes please

This is on my 1993 Factory Turbo, open spring style, as well as the accessory bracket holding the tensioner

This is from my parts 1994 Factory turbo that i pulled on Friday

It appears that the accessory brackets have different part numbers

For the search engines

F4TA-19E708-FB - 94 acesssory bracket
F3TA-19E7O8-DE - 93 accessory backet
F4TA-6B209-DB 94 - closed (non visable spring) style tensioner

FWIW: My '93 (built 11/92) has the open spring

never tell anyone behind a counter you have a '94.always use '93.

FORDF250HDXLT said:

never tell anyone behind a counter you have a '94.always use '93.

Click to expand...

Except that you won't get the right belt tensioner which is what is happened here

IDIoit said:

PART NUMBERS, PART NUMBERS, part numbers.
in the tech articles, there is a sea of info to help you get the right part the first time!

also knowing what parts you put on your truck helps. especially if you have 6 different years bolted up lol

Click to expand...

You do have a build diary for the six door ? Yes?

I just had this senario at napa....
All 90's landcrusirs run the same tie rod end, one part number for rt side one for left side.
Call and ask for one, ( this is for an 83 minni truck conversion) jody behibd the piter cant fugure out what I need by cross ref.
I pop open the build sheet and give him a part #, wallah! Dumbazz parts monkeys.
The tensioner on the 93 spit a bearing and the center bolt boss was only barley long enough to locate 1/3 the way into the bearing,, I ended up welding up a bushing for the bolt to gain a full seat.



From this
To this


Fwiw. This kept the bearing from cocking on the idler wheel( ford part) I think?