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6-Bolt Timing Tensioners

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2G 7 Bolt blocks share the tensioner with Evos yes? So there should be less of a chance of this happening to the later 7 bolt DSM blocks?
Evo 123 use MD185539/MD308587, which is the early '95 DSM tensioner; later DSMs use MD308086, which overlaps with Evo 4-7. Only Mitsubishi knows what the stock levels are, they could run out tomorrow, or 10 years from now.
 
Evo 123 use MD185539/MD308587, which is the early '95 DSM tensioner; later DSMs use MD308086, which overlaps with Evo 4-7. Only Mitsubishi knows what the stock levels are, they could run out tomorrow, or 10 years from now.

Got it. The lack of overlap with Evo 8 and 9 is unfortunate. That platform seems to have some life in it still.
 
There are replacements but no OEM replacements, or they are becoming scarce. Gates offers tensioners but I always went with OEM like a lot of others would do. Not bashing any aftermarket products but they just didn't seem to hold up compared to OEM tensioners. I haven't had any, so no first hand experience, but I have taken apart a couple motors that had tensioners in them that were super spongy and didn't hold tension like they should have. Those tensioners didn't have a #533 on them so I figured they were an aftermarket companies part.
 
There are replacements but no OEM replacements, or they are becoming scarce. Gates offers tensioners but I always went with OEM like a lot of others would do. Not bashing any aftermarket products but they just didn't seem to hold up compared to OEM tensioners. I haven't had any, so no first hand experience, but I have taken apart a couple motors that had tensioners in them that were super spongy and didn't hold tension like they should have. Those tensioners didn't have a #533 on them so I figured they were an aftermarket companies part.
The Gates ones typically have "533" cast into them as well, but Gates is known to often change their products. For a while, they had the same idler pulley in their kits that Mitsu uses, now they don't. Their water pumps went from being similar to an OEM (at least in the impeller design) to the disc style unit. They've changed the tensioner pulleys twice now over the years. This is all regarding the 6-bolt timing stuff. Other than the belts, Gates seems to just buy parts from whomever they deem having the "best deal/reliability" (however they gauge it).

I was just talking to someone the other day about the "533" aspect cast into them. The Chinese knock-off units often will go far enough to cast them this way. They seem to just copy the OEM unit for their castings:

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You can buy them out of China for $9.00 a piece, which are most likely what the Ebay sellers who are selling them for $30/each are doing.

Sell OEM parts? Be happy to make 20%.

Sell knock off stuff? Take your 200% markup and run!
 
Thanks for the clarification Josh! It is ALWAYS appreciated! :thumb:
 
Well I have 3 now 2 new , and one with under ten thousand miles . I should be okay for years to come. Let's see if any more are available.

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I went to the shop and grabbed 2 used tensioners and recompressed them slowly, then tested to see if they would expand in the vise and they both do so I put a grenade pin in them and put them away for emergencies Vic. :thumb:
Lets keep our fingers crossed!
 
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