[2old2rocknroll]

The tensioner on my nephews 2007 honda accord is starting to fail. When the radiator fan turns on the tensioner starts making noise and has slight movement (back & forth).
In the past it didn't do this, now it does. He has 151,000 miles with the original tensioner & serpentine belt.

Bought the more expensive honda oem tensioner (31770-PNA-023) $128.32 and bando 7PK1781 $18.72 from Amazon. I didn't want to spend that much for tensioner, but
it lasted 12 years!

 

[KW2004Accord]

WOW ! 151K on the orig. Bando belt. You are a good uncle.

 

[RMN]

My tensioner was rattling with steering wheel turned or A/C running. Eventually it fixed itself and stopped rattling.

 

[Mapperman]

Seeing how that tensioner is easy to see when it is going bad, and usually don't just fail all at once, and pretty easy to replace, I wouldn't pay the extra cost of OEM. Dayco or Continental cost under $60 from Rock Auto, and I'm sure will last at least 100K. There are parts where OEM might be a safer way to go, IMO that is not one of them. And if one of the bearings goes bad on a roller, you can replace those individually, it is the spring tensioner you can't replace.

 

[visionguru]

The serpentine belt tensioner is a simple and lasting component, unless there is something obvious, it's unlikely to fail.

Some time ago, when diagnose a subtle noise from the belt area, I started to notice the belt tensioner seemed to bounce around and making noise. I got a new Acura OEM (which is the same as my car) for $40 shipped and replaced it. Nothing changed! That's my $40 proof of a perfect working, 150K miles, tensioner. I won't be surprised that tensioner can last as long as the car.

 

[2old2rocknroll]

Seeing how that tensioner is easy to see when it is going bad, and usually don't just fail all at once, and pretty easy to replace, I wouldn't pay the extra cost of OEM. Dayco or Continental cost under $60 from Rock Auto, and I'm sure will last at least 100K. There are parts where OEM might be a safer way to go, IMO that is not one of them. And if one of the bearings goes bad on a roller, you can replace those individually, it is the spring tensioner you can't replace.

I looked at a lot of reviews of tensioners, dayco 1 star, gates was better, continental was higher but not many reviews. A lot of failures 30k miles or less. My nephew is planning on keeping his
car for at least another 150k miles. That's why I bought the higher priced honda oem tensioner.
I had a VW passat that had a tensioner fail just after installing a new serpentine belt. So, I don't trust old tensioners after changing a belt.

 

[qman]

The serpentine belt tensioner is a simple and lasting component, unless there is something obvious, it's unlikely to fail.

Some time ago, when diagnose a subtle noise from the belt area, I started to notice the belt tensioner seemed to bounce around and making noise. I got a new Acura OEM (which is the same as my car) for $40 shipped and replaced it. Nothing changed! That's my $40 proof of a perfect working, 150K miles, tensioner. I won't be surprised that tensioner can last as long as the car.

It's always the bearing that dries out. The bearing on my Suburban's tensioner dried out at about 150 Kmi so I cleaned and re-greased it. It only lasted a year or so and dried out again. I did this 2-3 times and then said the hell with it and put on a new one. Haven't had to think about it for years now. All those times it was noisy the bearing still spun. It was just dry.

I had a friend come by one day this past fall saying his car was making a funny noise. It was the tensioner bearing. I told him he'd be fine with it like that so don't worry. Then, before I let him drive off on his 6 hour drive home into the mountains before the first blizzard set in, I untensioned the belt just to check it. I could barely turn the bearing by hand. That means the squeak we were hearing was the belt slipping. He may have never made it home. I had him run over to Autozone and pick up a new bearing and belt and had him on his way in no time. This was a 10 minute fix.

The lesson I learned here was that just cuz I experienced a noisy bearing that functioned perfectly fine, it didn't mean all will experience the same thing. I assumed from my experience he would be perfectly safe driving home. I'm glad I didn't believe that advice 100%

 

[2old2rocknroll]

I installed the new serpentine belt and tensioner. The original belt with 151,000 miles still looked pretty good (no cracking).
I measured the spring strength on the tensioner per the factory manual.

You put it in a vise using 2 long bolts, use a torque wrench to measure spring strength.
The original tensioner has a longbar with a short bar next to it. Using torque wrench go to the center of the 2 bars.
Measured 25 ftlbs. The spec is 23.9 - 29.3 ftlbs.

So, it was on the low end of spec and it was making some noise with slight movements.
It could have lasted longer as some people stated.

 

[chris918]

I replaced the tensioner with a new OEM complete unit. Then I had a problem and reinstalled the old one and it's worked fine since. I have replaced the bearing with a NAPA bearing, no problems.

 

[t-rd]

I've used OEM, Gates, and Continental. There is almost no difference in the housing and the spring inside, but there is a difference on the tensioner pulley. Both Gates and Continental cut cost on the tensioner pulley by using a chinese variant bearing and it starts getting noisy and moving around within about 2 years. Both makers hide the low cost bearing by hiding it behind the reverse thread nut and bolt. You don't know what bearing that it unless you buzz it off with an impact. But you'll find a Japanese NSK bearing, the one you can clearly see, on the idler pulley. I suggest you change out the tensioner pulley's bearing first before changing out the whole tensioner because the dried out tensioner bearing will move around, causing the whole assembly to bounce, and makes you think the tensioner's spring is bad.

Picture on the right is the tensioner pulley with the low quality bearing off the Gates tensioner.

 

[Mapperman]

I've used OEM, Gates, and Continental. There is almost no difference in the housing and the spring inside, but there is a difference on the tensioner pulley. Both Gates and Continental cut cost on the tensioner pulley by using a chinese variant bearing and it starts getting noisy and moving around within about 2 years. Both makers hide the low cost bearing by hiding it behind the reverse thread nut and bolt. You don't know what bearing that it unless you buzz it off with an impact. But you'll find a Japanese NSK bearing, the one you can clearly see, on the idler pulley. I suggest you change out the tensioner pulley's bearing first before changing out the whole tensioner because the dried out tensioner bearing will move around, causing the whole assembly to bounce, and makes you think the tensioner's spring is bad.

Picture on the right is the tensioner pulley with the low quality bearing off the Gates tensioner.

Good info! I had to go look through my folder of receipts in the tool box to see which one I bought, I have the gates tensioner I put in back in August of 2017. Just something to be aware of during the occasional inspections with the hood up and the motor running, no big deal if it has to be replaced.

 

[qman]

I've used OEM, Gates, and Continental. There is almost no difference in the housing and the spring inside, but there is a difference on the tensioner pulley. Both Gates and Continental cut cost on the tensioner pulley by using a chinese variant bearing and it starts getting noisy and moving around within about 2 years. Both makers hide the low cost bearing by hiding it behind the reverse thread nut and bolt. You don't know what bearing that it unless you buzz it off with an impact. But you'll find a Japanese NSK bearing, the one you can clearly see, on the idler pulley. I suggest you change out the tensioner pulley's bearing first before changing out the whole tensioner because the dried out tensioner bearing will move around, causing the whole assembly to bounce, and makes you think the tensioner's spring is bad.

Picture on the right is the tensioner pulley with the low quality bearing off the Gates tensioner.

What makes it "low quality"

 

[t-rd]

It is low quality because the bearing was dry and rattled after 2 years / 60k miles. The NSK bearing remained well lubricated, spinning without noise. I still have both old bearings if you need evidence. I even popped open the bearing seal.

 

[visionguru]

It is low quality because the bearing was dry and rattled after 2 years / 60k miles. The NSK bearing remained well lubricated, spinning without noise. I still have both old bearings if you need evidence. I even popped open the bearing seal.

"2 years" sounds a lot worse than "60K miles", which is equivalent to 5 years of average driving. Also, misalignment of pulleys is hard on the bearings, when car gets older.

 

[Drew03Accord]

I even popped open the bearing seal.

Maybe you popped it too late? Grease your bearings. This is something you can do once in a while, if you want a cheap (or any) bearing to last. I don't make special trips...I do it if I happen to be doing work that gives me access. I spin everything by hand and listen for the sound of dryness.

Take 1 or preferably 2 tiny flat head screwdrivers and pop the bearing seal from the inside edge, or the inner donut hole, if that makes sense. That way, if you damage the seal, it's not the outer edge, where centrifugal forces will push out the grease. If you move the screwdrivers in a circular motion parallel to the seal, you can slip them under the seal without damaging the tiny rubber flap on the edge of the seal and lever the seal off. Using two, (screwdrivers) prevents deformation of the very malleable seal metal. If the seal is being blocked from removal by something, you can lift the edge and pump in grease with a grease needle.

Anway, you pop that sucker off and smear some grease using your finger, over the bearing balls. Don't put too much as the grease needs room to flow around, resulting in the same problem as not having enough. Also be mindful of the grease, some don't mix. I've sprayed out the old grease with brake cleaner and a toothbrush before and dried with compressed air. So you pop the seal back on and push on it all around in a circular motion. Been doing this for eons... I don't buy pulleys anymore and my bearings don't dry out, cheap or not.

 

[JarrellW23]

My tensioner was rattling with steering wheel turned or A/C running. Eventually it fixed itself and stopped rattling.

How long did it take to work it self out?