'98 V70 Serpentine Belt Tensioner Rattle

Post by **bmdubya1198** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:22 pm

May be a stupid question, but I always figured this is an issue that would have been solved by replacing the tensioner. I'll make it quick and to the point...
When I rev the engine, the serpentine belt tensioner rattles and makes a noticeable noise. It's most noticeable when the engine is cold, I don't think it does it when warm. I noticed that's what the noise was when I looked at the tensioner while revving the engine with the throttle pulley.
As soon as the RPM starts to raise, the tensioner has a quick rattle back and forth, then it tightens up like it should. Is this normal, or do I just keep getting "lucky" with my junkyard tensioners?
I got my current Meyle tensioner from the junkyard a couple weeks ago. It was only $15 and it has a 2013 date code on it, so I figured why not. The pulley feels good and the spring is nice and tight. I guess it's just not tight enough.

Post by **scot850** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:30 pm

Sorry our friend, but sounds like a bad tensioner spring.

Neil.

Post by **bmdubya1198** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:38 pm

scot850 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:30 pm Sorry our friend, but sounds like a bad tensioner spring.

Neil.

That's what I'm thinking as well. 3 tensioners later...

Post by **scot850** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:44 pm

Buy a new one! I know they can be expensive, but if you have fitted x 3 PnP items and they all fail then I would buy a new one as the time and risk of another used one failing and throwing the serpentine belt is not worth it. I have read of the belts failing and smashing the timing belt cover and taking out the timing belt = Engine.

Neil.

Post by **bmdubya1198** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:57 pm

Ouch, that's pretty bad!
I've planned on buying a new one anyway, I figured I'd give it another shot with the used one since I found a like-new Meyle, but it turns out after 4 years, the spring is just as bad as the 20 year old Volvo tensioner. Which is strange, it was a b**ch to get it to release all the way for me to get the belt on!

loveMy850 · Post by **loveMy850** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:12 pm

By holding it in your hand how can you tell if the tensioner spring is good or bad? Thanks

Post by **bmdubya1198** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 11:00 pm

loveMy850 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:12 pm By holding it in your hand how can you tell if the tensioner spring is good or bad? Thanks

You can get a general idea of the condition by trying to compress it. If it's easy to compress, it's likely bad. The spring should have a lot of tension.

loveMy850 · Post by **loveMy850** » Tue Sep 22, 2020 6:41 pm

The used one it's very tight, but can you give me a short write up on the pin thing, what about the used one,now how's that supposed align? I can't find a tutorial,and it's not in my Haynes or my chiltons.Never done this before.I'm a little stumped.

Post by **bmdubya1198** » Tue Sep 22, 2020 7:47 pm

You mean the pin hole to hold the tensioner in its released position? You can just compress it, then slip anything through there that fits, like an allen key.

Post by **abscate** » Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:47 am

You could use a torque wrench to measure the spring tension and quantify the result