Tensioner up-grade

[geonc]

On '94/'97 PSD's the tensioner has a tendency to grenade.
You COULD spend$$$$$$$$$$$$ at the stealership for just a std replacment single pulley jobby

OR Spend about US $60 for a DUAL pulley tensioner.
Car Quest p/n 89257CQ and GreenStripe belt #K081223

The fix is realitvly simple.......{I did mine in the parts store parking lot with a cordless sawzall.......talk about REDNECK;p }

You need a T-50 TORX bit...remove the LOWER right idler and pitch it away.
Using a medium fine sawzall blade, remove the pully mounting boss down FLUSH-even- with the rest of the alt mount brkt.

I was able to do this with the alt brkt mounted....your experience/comfort level will dictate weather you remove the alt and brkt....6 bolts.

Then install the new dual idler tensioner.

The one you get from FORK {that costs more than twice} requires you to also grind the web area for clerance

Hope this helps

 

[ISurvivedNMU]

I hate it when instructions call for a sawzall.....

 

[Mike]

Geo,

Nice write up, would you happen to have pics or links to pics of this mod? And also, after doing this we need the longer belt too dont we? 122" rings a bell but cant remember off hand.

 

[geonc]

The new belt is 122 .75 inches.

As far as pics.... none of my own.
Can we cross post to TDS pic galleries?

I'll ask a couple guys if I can link to their pics, provided it's OK with OB

 

[jharvey]

Geonc is there an advantage to the dual pulley or is it just more economical? Mine hasn't grenaded yet but from the looks of it the pin has been pulled and it's gonna blow sooner rather than later.

Thanks
John

 

[hheynow]

Where was this post six months ago when my stock tensioner went south ? I was dead on the road when mine went out. Serp belt got tangled through out the pulleys. Had to be towed to the local stealership and got the royal hose treatment by them. Fortunately they had a new one in stock and they put a mechanic right on it. I was out of there in one hour.

 

[Mike]

Originally posted by geonc


I'll ask a couple guys if I can link to their pics, provided it's OK with OB

I'm good with it Geo.

 

[Gildo]

Hey Geo, I've thought about the dual pulley tensioner compared to the original single pulley, and I have a question.

If the engine speed is the same aren't the pullies turning the same speed individually as the original single pulley tensioner? And if that is in fact the case where is the advantage? It seems to me that the only difference is after doing the dual tensioner mod you now have 2 bearings that may fail instead of just one. Am I missing something? Also to me it appears that the tension with the dual setup is even tighter than with the single. If that's also true wouldn't the tighter tension stress all of the other bearings that the belt is routed around? I may be missing something in my understanding of it. Enlighten me bro.

God bless,
Gil

 

[Mike]

I believe the advantage to this is that there is half the strain on the brg for the idler and your belt while making the same degree turn, has two surfaces on which to do it now which should equate to less belt stress.

 

[Mike]

Oh and Gildo, welcome to OB.net. Glad to see you made the jump over here.

 

[geonc]

Oh and Gildo, welcome to OB.net. Glad to see you made the jump over here.

YEA, what he said

As far as the tensioner without getting analitical, is there IS less tension due to spreading the load over two pulleys in close proximity, as opposed to one pulley.

If you look at a truck with the stock-single pulley- there "appears" to be more movement than with the dual.

Clear as mudd
I'm no engunieer

 

[Gildo]

Thanks for the kind welcome guys.

God bless,
Gil

 

[Diezel_Cowboy]

Originally posted by geonc
YEA, what he said

As far as the tensioner without getting analitical, is there IS less tension due to spreading the load over two pulleys in close proximity, as opposed to one pulley.

If you look at a truck with the stock-single pulley- there "appears" to be more movement than with the dual.

Clear as mudd
I'm no engunieer

There is the same amount of force on each one of the two pulleys as there was on the original single pulley set up. All you have done by adding the extra pulley is changed the direction of the combined force of the belt. The actual amount of force is still equal. If i had a picture of how i imagine the setup and could draw a picture to explain, what im trying to say would be a lot more clear.
If you think about the amount of tension on the belt as a force (it is by the way) then you can see that the same amount of tension exists over the entire belt. Therefore every pulley feels the same amount of force from the belt, however, they will feel the force pulling them in different directions toward the center. IF any of these pulleys were to feel less force pulling on them than any of the others.............the belt would be loose!

The one advantage of having two pulleys instead of one has already been mentioned...........and that is that the two pulleys will help to stabilize the belt a little better since there is more pulley surface contacting the belt. Other than that, I dont see any advantage to having two pulleys!