T-belt tensioner failure????

[turboglenn]

Well, i searched and didn't find anything except for some newbs brainless replies.

Has anyone had a tensioner go out and make a lot of random clacking noises?

What i thought was a rod bearing can't be heard anywhere while listening to the block and head with a stethescope. The more i hone in on the sound is seems to be coming from teh T-belt area. Like i said before if i rev it up the noise goes away, but when it's atidle it's a very strange random noise.

I've worked on tons of motorcycles and cam chain tensioners are always failineg (especially on hondas) and this noise reminds me a lot of that noise. My t-belt doen'st seem loose, but there is a spot between the cam gears where there's not much tension on it, but that could be due to the way the valve train is sitting for all i know.

Before i tear into the front of the motor i just wanted some input. Normally im on with my diagnosis, but it's such tedious work to pull the engine down to jsut the timing components that i'd rather hear a 2nd opinion before doing it.

 

[outkastracing]

ive heard that before what that is, is the belt slapping the plastic cover when you rev it up its getting tighter! so if you dont drive it and replace the tensioner now then you might be ok but since your going to be there replace it all!

 

[turboglenn]

i'm hearing a metal on metal sound or the tensioner collapsing or something. The plastic covers are out of the way on the top half and i can see the belt jump here and there when reving upward. But it doesn't make noise until you let it sit and idle, i think the loose lopey idle lets teh belt tighten and relax repeatedly, but untill i either figure it out or eliminate the rod bearings by relacing them i won't know for sure. Just wondering if anyone else has heard this, i'm sure some one has had to....

 

[turboglenn]

damn this part of the forums sucks!!!! Only 3 views all day... well i got it fixed so no worries

 

[92awddsm]

damn this part of the forums sucks!!!! Only 3 views all day... well i got it fixed so no worries

What ended up being the problem?

 

[turboglenn]

What ended up being the problem?

I think it was the AC compressor. I took everything off the front of the motor and ran it with no belts and it was quiet and smooth as can be. I mounted the power steering, alternator and then found that the AC had rough spots in the bearings where it's supposed to spin freely. If i rant he belt too tight the noise would come back, so i ran it a bit more slack and it got quiet again This is why i kept hearing it both under the intake and down towards the waterpump area.

It's back together and running great. I upgraded to 20W-50 oil as well, but i did that before pulling everything apart and it didn't really make any difference.

 

[spiritturbo]

I just wanted to add to this even though it's years later, because I had the exact same symptoms, but got a completely different outcome. I, too, had the metal clacking noise coming from the front of the engine. It sounded like a LOUD valve tap that was consistent and repetitive. The noise also completely cleared up when I increased the engine speed and came right back when it got back near idle. (again, do at your own risk).

I used a stethoscope to eliminate where it might be. I started the engine (do this at your own risk) and watched carefully. I just happened to get a glimpse of the tensioner arm doing an up-and-down dance on top of the auto tensioner. Closer inspection showed that the auto tensioner had indeed failed, oil had leaked out of the plunger seal, the metal plug had come off the back, and the plunger was so weak that it was allowing the tensioner arm to slam against the tensioner body, which was what was making the loud clacking noise. I confirmed this by pushing on the belt itself above or below the tensioner pulley, which tensioned the belt, and I could observe the plunger easily dropping into the tensioner body, allowing the arm to "clack", and spring back out. When I pulled the tensioner off I found that I could depress the plunger with my fingers, an act that should take a strong vise. I replaced the blown tensioner with a new one and the sound went away and the tensioner remained steady after it was properly adjusted.

 

[bigdnno98]

I'm shocked your car did not jump time.

 

[desolateboosted]

Had this exact problem. It ended up being the tensioner. Rev engine up and noise goes away. At idle it ticked like a mofo. Got a good video of it too.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/nasty-noise-coming-from-engine-tbelt-area-video-included.489118/

 

[91-GS]

What brand tensioners were those failed ones and how long were they on those cars?

 

[spiritturbo]

What brand tensioners were those failed ones and how long were they on those cars?

Mine was from a dealer, but I don't think it was a "Mitsu" tensioner. It gave it up around 15K. I've seen a few others recently that failed early, one even came collapsed out of the new box. I've also heard of a few more going bad way before their time. Maybe there's a QC issue with them now? I guess eventually we'll run out of options and have to modifiy our hydros into manually adjustables.

PS. Love those doors.

 

[ThunderChild]

Mine wasn't clicking, but I was checking an oil leak on my car today (has less than 100 miles currently) and got that sorted, but noticed my belt was a touch slack. Looked at my tensioner, which I did purchase 3 years ago, but just assembled last year and was fine for countless months of me rotating the motor over on the stand and rechecking it. Just got the thing running a few weeks ago and it runs great.

Anyway, looked at the tensioner, and it was collapsed, arm resting on tensioner body. Used a flat blade to lift the arm some, tensioner rod followed. Sadly, after sitting for a few min, it collapsed completely again.

Ordered another new one oem from stm, but if this one does the same thing, I'm getting a manual one. There's really no reason a new oem one should fail out of the box unless there was an install error or its just bad. I'm thinking more of these oem pieces are getting outsourced to cheaper companies.

 

[bryzenga]

A friend of mine found out that the ones from auto zone don't last more than 1000 miles, haha!
After he replaced the first failed one and a second went out on him, I asked him where he was getting them from. Once he told me, I told him to knock it off.
But anyway, same sound as has been described. How his car never jumped time, I will never know.