Thread: serpentine tensioner

i'm sure someone has! but, how hard is this to replace? and would these make noise when they are goin'?


its like a hissing sound!

which one? the supercharger belt of the accessories belt?

the supercharger belt is one 13mm nut.

the accessories belt is the whole damn tensioner and coolant bracket. have fun if this is the one youre talking about because you have to take off plenty of stuff to get to it.

^lol. its the asccessories belt!


i just want to know 4 sure its what the problem is.

im not sure how much noise it makes when they are going out because when mine died the pulley literally ate itself and flew off. i tired buying another pulley, but then i twisted the screw head right off the tensioner and figured out that you have to buy a new tensioner and not just a pulley..

I don't see why you'd have to replace the whole thing. The only wear item is the pulley, which is replaceable on its own.

i dont know how you got the pulley off by itself, but good job. i twisted the head off the bolt when i tried to replace mine.

I've done it on three different 3800s. That tensioner is usually the first idler to go for some reason. Here's one a member on NAIOA recently pulled off his car. The pulley seized and broke his belt:

http://i39.tinypic.com/154y8wg.jpg

Pretty easy to get off.

so this could cause my belt to snap? hmmm......


wish someone knew what these things sound like when there goin'?

Originally Posted by boosting98

so this could cause my belt to snap? hmmm......


wish someone knew what these things sound like when there goin'?

Usually sound like a whistle or a squeaking.

I just replaced the accessory tensoiner a few weeks ago. The stock one started to make a rateling noise. Not a hard job to do. You need to remove the alternator and the coolant overflow and you have enough room to do a tap dance. Coolant runs though it so be prepared for that. If it takes you an hour, you must have been looking at the girly magazine while you were working on it

Replace the idler pulley also. Get a metal pulley, the cheap plastic factory ones are terrible. The S/C Idler pulley is factory plastic. Replace it while you are in there. Autozone has a metal replacement for 17 bucks