Tensioner question (Series I SC)

hi yall. im new here so im nervous..anyway im just gonna cut to the chase. the bolt on my tensioner broke while trying to change the pulley, but now i think ill have to replace the whole assembly (i prefer to), but seeing that im new all round to this i dont even know what assembly to purchase. i pulled it out from the car. its the assembly directly under the alternator. what is that tensioner assembly called? I have a 1995 Riv Supercharged. i also looked on amazon but cant figure out what to purchase. i saw one that said 'Serpentine-Exc w/supercharger. is it this what i should get? please help!!

Hi,
You are correctly looking for the part called a tensioner or belt tensioner. Try rockauto.com, they have an excellent parts lookup guide and list specifically for each engine. Amazon's part finder is not that useful.

Ok. im making a bit of progress cause i got the broken bolt drilled out and the hole rethreaded, so now its to find the bolt to hold the pulley. i will still check out the site though to see what they got. thanks much!! i hope i get the bolt tomorrow so i can put this part back on asap.

well we got the tentioner put on and everything, but now the elbow, or the place where the elbow goes ino is leaking the antifreeze out. i think i may need an o ring or something.

is it a plastic elbow?

yes robotennis(funny name) , the eblow is plastic. i dont think that the elbow is busted, even though i did hear that they do that from time to time, but i dnt know. me and my father in law are thinking that we didnt put enough/the correct sealing around the elbow before fitting it in. we used some gasket sealer..but we plan on using something that would be alot more suitable for that holding purpose. so sometime this wee we will take out the pulley assembly again and get some better stuff for that elbow.

PS: after changing my pulley and got the belt back on and such it keeps making squeaking sounds. does anyone know why? because everything seems fine. i feel like a dork asking all kinds of questions

could be the water pump is going,or the alternator bearing is failing....my 95s alternator bearing is shot.but still works.

i dont think the water pump is going cause the coolant is leaking from the bottom side of the elbow. we even seen it spray from there. we probably need to look at that alternator bearing to make sure. hopefully we can look at it tomorrow if its as nice as today.

get rid of the plastic elbow while yer there.they do and will fail.i

f you pop off the belts and spin each pully,if yer lucky you'll find the squeek. but it ant allways so evident

i guess they have metal elbows? i wonder if advanced auto has any? ill have to check. the squeak sounds like its coming from the tentioner bu it spins perfect. im wondering if i should spray some doube D forty on them pulleys to u know, get em lubricated. what do you think?

Quote :

PS: after changing my pulley and got the belt back on and such it keeps making squeaking sounds. does anyone know why? because everything seems fine. i feel like a dork asking all kinds of questions

If the sound is a "chirp-chirp-chirp", it could be the tensioner itself, not a pulley. Try applying force to the tensioner with a ratchet while the engine is running. If the squeak goes away, it's the tensioner.

yeah it is an occasional chirp...ok im going to try that, because i already got a replacement pulley because the previous one have a dreadful squeak to it, so we thought that it may have had bad bearing in it.

AA wrote:

Quote :

PS: after changing my pulley and got the belt back on and such it keeps making squeaking sounds. does anyone know why? because everything seems fine. i feel like a dork asking all kinds of questions

If the sound is a "chirp-chirp-chirp", it could be the tensioner itself, not a pulley. Try applying force to the tensioner with a ratchet while the engine is running. If the squeak goes away, it's the tensioner.

Great tip! I never thought of that? why dont I ever think of these things? sometimes I dont think I can think at all!

Just watch those knuckles!!!

u know, i thought of an idea today. I always see this infomercial on tv advertising this product called Flex Seal(liquid rubber in a can). i wonder if i could use that to stop my leak? instead of taking going through the hassle of removing the tensioner and ultimately changing the elbow(as much as i want to replace it). cause its practically freezing here anymore and i have to request help, and everyone knows how that can be. i really wana replace it but at least for now, does anyone think that would be a good idea?

adri, just do it right and do it once. NAPA part # 6601745 and it's $5.00.

magic potions only work in fairy land. in the real world busted knuckles and sore backs get things done

So true Robo, so true. Excepting Seafoam, that is.

Seafoam? if u got a clogged cat,the only clearing youll get is a blown head gasket

I have to say thanks for all the people who put in their time and tid bits on helping me with this problem.