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Re: timing belt tensioner question (V6) Posted by SWEDECAR [Email] (#112) [Profile/Gallery] (more from SWEDECAR) on Wed, 25 Feb 2004 21:39:02 In Reply to: timing belt tensioner question (V6), betsy, Wed, 25 Feb 2004 15:09:07 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
It's a very important question with no real answers.
For peace of mind, yes the tensioner has to be replaced at every belt change, but that brings the price up for the customer.
I have seen and heard of several failures at around 70-80K miles.
You can't get any help from Saab since it's not covered under warranty because it's not the belt that failed (which is what they replaced at 60K for free).
The Saab dealers cannot recommend to replace the tensioner to all customers since it would open up the car manufacturer for recall demands.
I have no doubt that many tensioner assemblies will survive until 120K service, but that will not help any and all of the owners where the tensioner failed between 60 to 120K and are now stuck with a repair bill of between 3,000 to 10,000.
I'm still angry at myself for not stopping one customer from driving away with the car after a routine oil change. I heard a faint noise from the timing belt area which could be any number of different things like, waterpump, alternator or just an idler pulley for the serpentine belt.
Since it was a new to me customer and the noise was not really alarming in any way, I notified him about it and that we should look into it more at a later date.
The very next day the tensioner pulley broke and ruined the cylinder heads to the cost of $3000.
I'm not doing that mistake again.
Anders
posted by 66.229.13...
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