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jimrac

97 Buisk; Belt tensioner replacemnet

jimrac
18 years ago

Hi all,

about a month ago, I had my serpentine belts replaced. Now, evidently, one of the belts started to shred on the outside. The mechanics have stated now I need a New Belt Tensioner to be replaced.

Do you think this is a coinsidence?

How easy of a job is it to replace a tensioner? 97 riveria, v6 , turbo. and approximately how long doe sit take? any ideas.

much apprecaite your insight in advance

jimrac

Comments (4)

  • vstech
    18 years ago

    shredding belt could be caused by any number of things. a belt tensioner is not too difficult to replace. your car mostlikely has one spring loaded tensioner and possibly one or more idlers, they could be worn also. they mostlikely are made of plastic pulleys and they wear out pretty quickly. 1 hour on the outside to replace.
    if this belt was just replaced less than 1000 miles ago, I would want to know exactly what was causing it to fail. pulleys mis aligned, bad berrings on the altanator, powersteering pump bracket failure, etc.
    John

  • GMC_ASE_TECH
    18 years ago

    You say that one of the belts is shredding on the "OUTSIDE"? If so, it sounds as though the belt is rubbing on something. Also, if the tensioner is bad enough to allow the belt to throw slack and rub against something, do you hear it slipping & making a loud whine? You would hear it more on the initial start up after the car has sat for awhile and the engine is cool.

  • bucky
    18 years ago

    I replaced both belt tensioners on my supercharged 96 Riviera this spring as the originals were plastic and were hairline cracking. It took me about 30 minutes. Its not a difficult job to do and the tensioners are not expensive to buy. However be aware that the tensioner mounting bolts have reverse threads. Replacing the serpentine belts on a Riviera of this vintage, especially the inner most belt, is not an easy task. I'd let a pro do this nasty little job. Good luck mate.

  • jimrac
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Thanks all,

    Got it done, but whatever the case, the mechanic mentioned the tension was bent or something. he showed me the part under the hood, it appears to be a heavy duty part and attched to the engine. i dont know.

    but to me it seems strange, the replaced the serpentine belt 4 weeks before, and now i need the tensioner replace. i am just wondering if they did or didnt do something correctly the first time around.

    All in all, its all fixed, thanks again

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