CSVT_Tessa Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Well, My belt on my tensioner has "moved" toward the engine. On all the other pulley's she's in a good place. Is this a tough replacement? Not sure if I want to tackle it myself or pay someone to do it. Seems simple.. but I want to make sure before I tackle it in my parking spot. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotwell Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 If you can take the belt on and off you can change the tensioner. It's only a few more bolts. Don't forget to change the idler pulley! Might as well while you have it apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSVT_Tessa Posted June 3, 2014 Author Share Posted June 3, 2014 hmm. So I might have my hands full w the tensioner. The idle pulley is at the bottom of the engine if I remember correctly. When the belt is off is it something I can check for damage? or just replace is best case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotwell Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 It isn't too bad to change. Pretty easy in the realm of Contours, certainly. As far as the idler pulley...that's your call. I usually change those (tensioner pulley and idler pulley) at the same time. The belt is another story. I ran my original belt in my SVT for well over 100K. There were no cracks in it! I finally replaced it because the back had worn substantially. If you bend the belt backwards and don't see any cracks, and there are no obvious damaged spots, the belt is fine...put it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSVT_Tessa Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 wow 100k w no cracks? thats awesome. I am def replacing that on mine. I'll check the idler but if its an easy enough fix I might just do them both. Thanks shotwell for the insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 ...hold up!!..First off to remove the tensioner arm assy on a V6 is a bear..the torx bolt in the middle will give you problems. First of remove the belt and check the bearings for wear and noise on ALL the idlers...the tensioner hardly ever fails and the spring fits into the front timing cover..If the tensioner moves OK and 'springs' when you use a 3/8 drive on it and the bearings are OK leave it alone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSVT_Tessa Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share Posted June 4, 2014 (edited) So here is a pic of what I'm looking at. If the tensioner..tensions. and the pulley spins w no sound. what would cause the belt to move off? Edited June 4, 2014 by CSVT_Tessa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkundework Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 (edited) CSVT_Tessa, did you ever resolve your issue? I'm having the same problem with my 1997. I believe the problem may be with the Harmonic Balancer pulley. I've seen this on other cars that I've owned. The outer part of the pulley moves inward on the rubber bushing within the pulley, in this case, towards the engine. That makes the belt ride off the tensioner puller. Mine is currently riding at least 1/4" off the tensioner puller toward the engine. Sounds like your problem. Has anyone else ever seen this problem? It's either the tensioner or harmonic balancer or a little of both. Please comment. Edited December 8, 2014 by bkundework Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNWContour Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 No, never got around to addressing the issue. Engine runs fine so I didn't mess with it. At some point I will replace the harmonic balancer, idle pully and DMD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkundework Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 (edited) I finally got around to working on my Contour. I found the harmonic balancer was ok and not causing my belt alignment problem. However, the crank oil seal was leaking bad so I replaced the harmonic balancer and the oil seal anyway. It appears the belt alignment problem is just with the tensioner assembly. It looks worn very bad. Tomorrow I will check all the pulleys and install the new tensioner. Hopefully it will fix the belt problem. I'll let you know. I did have fits removing the serpentine belt and removing the tensioner. I have a belt removal tool but I couldn't find a place to put it for it to work. I had to jack up the car, remove the front right tire and the wheel well shroud. From there I could reach up with a 3/8" breaker bar and loosen the tensioner spring enough to remove the belt. Removing the tensioner was killer. It uses a #40 torque but I couldn't get enough leverage to break it loose. Finally I found a 1/4" brake tool will a long enough handle to break it loose. Why do they put short handles on small size wrenches? If things go well tomorrow, I'll let you know if replacing the tensioner fixes the belt alignment problem. Edited December 30, 2014 by bkundework Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotwell Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Be careful with that old tensioner. We used to call them grenades at the shop I worked at. There's a lot of spring pressure in there even off the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkundework Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the warning. Yes, the tensioner pulley alignment issue was all in the tensioner assembly itself. The old tensioner wore a grove where it rubbed on the engine casting causing the pulley to ride out away from the engine and the belt to ride almost half off the pulley. The tool I used to remove the tensioner was a #40 torque taped into a long handled 1/4" hex end Brake Wrench. This was the only tool I had that would give me enough leverage to break loose the center bolt holding on the tensioner. I used a large screwdriver to hold it in place so it would not slip out. I broke it loose from the top down, but then worked from the bottom up through the wheel well. There is much more room from below to swing the wrench. The belt rides nicely on the new assembly. Edited January 5, 2015 by bkundework Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotwell Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNWContour Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Geez.. man thanks for the info. Good to know it seeems to be the tensioner that creates most if not all of this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PNWContour Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 update it seem as my belt is still riding off my idle pully.. ill up date pics today but im surprised its moved so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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