What is belt tensioner

The drive belt tension is made up of four main parts — the base, tensioner arm, spring and pulley. The base holds the other parts, and the spring keeps the belt pulled tight. The pulley is what facilitates movement of the belt.

The tensioner arm is found on the bottom of the tensioner, and if you press on it, it will work against the spring, delivering enough slack so that you can adjust or remove the belt. Adjusting the drive belt tensioner is not something you should attempt to do yourself — leave this job up to a pro. The serpentine belt is absolutely vital to the function of your vehicle, and if you end up with a belt problem due to an improperly adjusted tensioner, the damage can be catastrophic.

The most popular service booked by readers of this article is Drive Belt Tensioner Replacement. Our certified mobile mechanics perform over services, including diagnostics, brakes, oil changes, scheduled mileage maintenances, and will come to you with all necessary parts and tools.

Our certified mobile mechanics make house calls in over 2, U. Fast, free online quotes for your car repair. Drive Belt Tensioner Replacement Cost. Service Location. What does the belt tensioner do?

The parts The drive belt tension is made up of four main parts — the base, tensioner arm, spring and pulley. Adjusting the belt tensioner Adjusting the drive belt tensioner is not something you should attempt to do yourself — leave this job up to a pro. Home Drive Belt Tensioner Replacement. The statements expressed above are only for informational purposes and should be independently verified. Please see our terms of service for more details. Excellent Auto Repair Ratings.

YourMechanic Auto Repair. Related Articles. How Engine Timing Works. Experienced Mechanic? Recent Drive Belt Tensioner Replacement reviews. If the tensioner is loose the belts may squeak or squeal , especially when the engine is first started. It is also possible for the tensioner pulley or bearing to wear out, in which case the vehicle will produce a grinding noise from the pulley. Another symptom of a potential problem with the drive belt tensioner is unusual belt wear.

If the drive belt tensioner pulley has any sort of issue it can cause unusual and accelerated wear on the belt. A bad pulley can cause fraying on the edges of the belt, and in severe cases can even cause it to break.

Another symptom of bad or failing drive belt tensioner is failure of the belt driven accessories. A seized or loose drive belt tensioner can cause the belt to snap, which will disables those accessories and can cause problems such as overheating , a dead electrical system and battery , or a disabled AC system.

Usually a belt that has failed because of the tensioner will have to be replaced , along with the tensioner , in order to restore full functionality to the vehicle. If you suspect that your drive belt tensioner may be having an issue, have the vehicle inspected by a professional technician, such as one from YourMechanic, to determine if it should be replaced. This article originally appeared on YourMechanic. Autoblog is partnering with YourMechanic to bring many of the repair and maintenance services you need right to you.

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And free is good, right? If you'd be so kind as to allow our site, we promise to keep bringing you great content. Thanks for that. The serpentine belt wraps around the belt tensioner pulley. The spring loaded arm on the tensioner applies pressure to the belt. The whole point of having a belt tensioner on your engine is to keep the serpentine belt tight enough.

If the belt is too loose, it won't fully power any of the accessories, including:. The belt tensioner also keeps the serpentine belt correctly seated in all the other pulleys in the path. Image Credit: YouCanic. Belt tensioners last longer than serpentine belts. Yet, they don't last forever. Like all moving parts, they can wear out. They usually fail in one of two ways:. Once the tensioner goes bad, the wear on the belt will accelerate. If not replaced, sometimes the belt will suddenly fail, and the engine won't be able to run.