November 2005 Form No.

433-0796

How a tensioner works and when to replace it

The vast majority of vehicles with serpentine belt front end drives over 100 million use automatic belt tensioners. Tensioners are built into the drive system for several reasons. They are designed to: Maintain proper tension for the life of the belt. Reduce maintenance by eliminating the need to manually retension belts on a periodic basis. Provide consistent and correct belt tension, thereby increasing the bearing life of the accessories. Prevent belt slip. A belt that slips can be noisy, can have reduced service life and can cause accessories to function improperly. Tension is provided by a powerful spring located within a small canister-like housing and the tensioning arm. The arm pivots around the spring housing and generates a constant belt tension. The pulley is attached to the arm. 2. Damping Mechanism: a composite mechanism that smoothes system vibrations. Tensioners with worn out damping mechanisms need to be replaced. 3. Tension Spring: preloaded at the factory, it provides force to tension the belt. 4. Arm: connects the spring to the tensioner pulley. 5. Pulley/Bearings: the pulley is made of thermoplastic or steel, and may be grooved, flat or flat with flanges. Pulley surfaces should be inspected regularly for damage or wear. For a pulley to function properly, the bearings must be properly lubricated. The most frequent cause of pulley failure is loss of lubrication in the bearings. Do not attempt to put new bearings in to an old pulley. 6. Sealing Disk: prevents internal contamination to the bearings. 7. Bolt: connects the pulley to the arm. Tensioners, like any other part, dont last forever. To reduce belt warranty problems, comebacks and labor claims, Gates Corporation engineers recommend that the serpentine belt and its automatic tensioner be replaced at the same time. It is highly probable that the source of belt system damage (excessive belt wear, tension loss, vibration, misalignment, etc.) is the result of a worn tensioner.

The spring-loaded tensioner consists of seven parts: 1. Base: stationary part of the tensioner that is bolted to the engine block or an accessory. Base designs vary. Some base components are very complicated and may include bracketry or conduits that carry engine coolant.

Gates Corporation Denver, Colorado www.gates.com

Printed in the U.S.A.