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It is not supposed to Posted by Ari [Email] ![]() ![]() In Reply to: More Serpentine belt questions..., Joe T., Tue, 31 May 2005 09:57:06 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
The tensioner has a damper on it - it isn't supposed to turn. I guess if you tried hard enough, you could break it.
Do you mean that the shock doesn't compress? It take a lot of force, or a little force over a long time (like 30 seconds) to compress it.
If the belt came off, a few ideas come to mind-
First - the belt was old. They do die with time.
Second - misalignment. If the belt isn't running true, it will rub up against the bracket holding the tensioner pulley. Eventually it'll self destruct. If you see a lot of rubber filings around, that's a sign.
Why would the belt misalign? One big reason would be the main pulley (aka Harmonic balancer - lowest BIG pulley) is coming apart. The main pulley is a sandwich of and inner and outer piece, separated by a rubber bit. If /when the rubber dies, the outer part that carries the belt can move inwards or outwards. That will misalign the belt. Inspecting the main pulley will test that theory. Main PUlley failures are common after a few years. Another thing that can misalign the belt is if the tensioner bracket is pulling away from the engine block - that happens if the upper bolt breaks.
There are two pulleys - the tensioner pulley, and an idler pulley, up by the alternator. Make sure the idler pulley spins OK. If it seizes up, it'll throw the belt.
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