How To Install a Serpentine Belt System

Lotrat · Post by **Lotrat** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:29 pm

I was curious to see if you were gonna run one again. Did they say how long the tensioner bearing should last?

baja5 · Post by **baja5** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:34 pm

Lotrat wrote:I was curious to see if you were gonna run one again. Did they say how long the tensioner bearing should last?

I will most definately be reinstalling it.They didn't really elaborate as to expected but he did say that they had had a few go south.I am curious to see the new one.The old one had 2 bearings held in by snap rings.Seems like having 2 smaller bearings wouldn't be as good as 1 larger bearing.

seabeebuggy · Post by **seabeebuggy** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:10 pm

I would not use it unless you keep extra parts , like a complete stock set up.

Turbo_Manx_Maniac · Post by **Turbo_Manx_Maniac** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:48 pm

seabeebuggy wrote:I would not use it unless you keep extra parts , like a complete stock set up.

I was thinking the same way. Seems like this creates a potential problem where one didn't exist.

baja5 · Post by **baja5** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:52 pm

Don't know about no problem existing.I have seen plenty of alternator pulleys explode.And I doubt everyone has one in their tool kit.

bajaherbie · Post by **bajaherbie** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:57 pm

any chance of new bearings for the old idler so it could be used as a backup/spare?

baja5 · Post by **baja5** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:58 pm

bajaherbie wrote:any chance of new bearings for the old idler so it could be used as a backup/spare?

You can buy the bearing separate so I will most likely give that a shot.It did get pretty mangled but I think it will work for a spare.Like i said.It was on there for over 3 years so I'm not too suprised that it came apart.

Turbo_Manx_Maniac · Post by **Turbo_Manx_Maniac** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:06 pm

baja5 wrote:Don't know about no problem existing.I have seen plenty of alternator pulleys explode.And I doubt everyone has one in their tool kit.

No kidding? I've never heard of an Alt pulley failing. I've seen belts thrown from excessive RPM, but that's about it.

baja5 · Post by **baja5** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:30 pm

It's mostly the chrome ones.They will wollow out in the middle and come apart.Not good.Stay away from chrome pulleys.It's getting harder to find the good german ones.

57baja · Post by **57baja** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:27 pm

Turbo_Manx_Maniac wrote:
baja5 wrote:Don't know about no problem existing.I have seen plenty of alternator pulleys explode.And I doubt everyone has one in their tool kit.
No kidding? I've never heard of an Alt pulley failing. I've seen belts thrown from excessive RPM, but that's about it.

I've toasted two of them over the years. One chrome one, and one of unknown origin. I carry an extra in my spares kit in case I (or someone I'm with) have another one fail. I think my current one is starting to gradually stretch now, as my belt gets looser and looser as the miles go by. I've taken all the shims out one by one. I'm with Baja5 on this one. The chrome Tiawan jobs are just not the same as the German ones. Maybe I'll find someone to chrome a German one for me next time.

Post by **david58** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:42 pm

baja5 wrote:Just thought I would throw this in there, as some of you know my serpentine belt tensioner pulley exploded over Thanksgiving weekend.Ih has been on there for a little over 3 years now so not a huge shocker.Anyway I called BMD today to order a new one.The guy asked me for my address and said that he would get it shipped out.I asked him if i needed to give him my CC number to pay for it and He said that he would send it no charge.So, anyway that's my plug for BMD pulleys.

baja5 wrote:
Lotrat wrote:I was curious to see if you were gonna run one again. Did they say how long the tensioner bearing should last?
I will most definately be reinstalling it.They didn't really elaborate as to expected but he did say that they had had a few go south.I am curious to see the new one.The old one had 2 bearings held in by snap rings.Seems like having 2 smaller bearings wouldn't be as good as 1 larger bearing.

So the new one is 1 larger bearing?

Lotrat · Post by **Lotrat** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:34 pm

baja5 wrote:...It has been on there for a little over 3 years now so not a huge shocker...

Why isn't it a shocker? Almost every car runs a serpentine belt these days. I don't think 3 years is acceptable at all. I've never lost a tensioner on any car I have owned. I've had motors with over 200,000 miles. My daily driver is 8 years old and the tensioner is fine. Why would it be acceptable on your baja? How many miles have you put on your baja in the last 3 years? I think it was a premature failure, that's why BMD is sending you a new one or free.

baja5 · Post by **baja5** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:28 am

It may be defect, i'm not sure.I do know that as a Honda mechanic, I see tensioner pulley bearings go bad all the time.especially the newer V6 cars.And at relatively low mileage.I have no doubt that BMD buys the bearings from a supplier and once in awhile you can get a bad batch.I have had new Honda Odyssey wheel bearings bad at 7k.That never used to happen.Unfortunately, most Americans have gotten cheap over the years, and expect to be paid top dollar for less than skilled labor so companies forced to go overseas to have things made just to make a profit.As for 3 years on my system.I'd guess that it had 10k of offroad miles of so.I tend to put on 200 miles or so per weekend out, plus around town mileage.As for the new tensioner having a single bearing David, I will let you know when it gets here, he really didn't say.

Getrdone · Post by **Getrdone** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:34 am

Did you have any luck aligning the Alt. pulley?

Lotrat · Post by **Lotrat** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:53 am

Getrdone wrote:Did you have any luck aligning the Alt. pulley?

Mine? Yeah, the fan shroud was bent. I jumped on it a while, but it's still not right. I pulled the generator as far forward as I could and the generator strap is holding it where it needs to be. After what I did to the car last weekend, I don't think it's gonna slip and move out of alignment.