After Market Tensioner Pulley for CRD?

mrkake · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:41 pm

I have been scouring the Internet and local parts stores for an after market tensioner pulley for the CRD. Lots of options for the gasser, but I can't find anything for the diesel version. I have a chirping sound that I believe is coming from the tensioner pulley (the one more to the center of the front of the engine). Any ideas/suggestions?

BlackLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:09 pm

Take the tensioner off, spray the spring part with wd-40, then put it back on.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:26 pm

Tony also mentioned this if the WD40 doesn't work
http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33393

Timmaah! · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:46 pm

BlackLibertyCRD wrote:

Take the tensioner off, spray the spring part with wd-40, then put it back on.

That worked for me too.

tonycrd · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:31 am

I've had / have nothing but trouble with those idler bearings. Spraying it won't help, the bearings are sealed.

Timmaah! · **Posted:** Tue Feb 26, 2008 8:34 pm

tonycrd wrote:

I've had / have nothing but trouble with those idler bearings. Spraying it won't help, the bearings are sealed.

Sparying will help the belt tensioner mechanism. In my case it was the tiny movement of the tensioner that was causing the noise not the pully bearing. You are right, spraying the pully bearing won't help.

mrkake · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:41 am

I was able to remove the bearing seals without damage. I applied a little grease and replaced the seals. This has helped to an extent, but I still have something that is making an intermittent chirp on occasion. I will try lubing the tensioner mechanism next.

tonycrd · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:11 am

I didn't want to risk it, if one of them decides to lock the fanbelt breakes. ( with my luck that will probably happen a 100 miles from home in the middle of mountain trail)

And the next thing that chirps is the alternator pulley.

Which I've also replaced. :shock:

mrkake · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:01 pm

I know what you mean. I am watching very closely to see it there are any ill effects. My concern is that they will start spinning grease everywhere and cause unimagined problems while on the road/trail. I wondered about the alternator pulley. Can it be easily (relatively speaking of course) removed and replaced?

tonycrd · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:27 pm

Well see Jimmy's post.

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=29915

or this

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=29528

mrkake · **Posted:** Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:49 pm

Thanks for the links tonycrd! Most helpful. I just can't get over how great this forum is! I swear I learn something new every time I log in.

mk38tech · **Joined:** Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:25 pm **Posts:** 72

these tensioners suck. they are made to disassemble after a year or so. sure wish they had a more durable replacement. like the one for my cummins which takes a half inch or 3/8 drive whichever part you decide on. who the hell designed a belt tensioner that actuates with torquing on a bolt.... what an idiot. ive still got my old one and this one that just crapped out on me( less than 2 years old). the old one still works but the soft (plastic, basically) threads stripped after i torqued down about 15 lbs. go figure :furious:

need to find a reliable way to weld the bolt head to the tensioner. or put a fastener on the other side which i doubt i would have room for unless i grind something down back there haha

kjjet · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 10:47 pm

Replace with new. lubing gets on the belt. Not good. ID parts has crown aftermarket.

mk38tech · **Joined:** Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:25 pm **Posts:** 72

do yourselves a favor and replace these pieces of doo doo within every 24 months. this could have been a disaster. going to try to find someone to fabricate a REAL one for me this month. what a pain in the booty. by the way, when you guys do this doo doo, you can use your or possibly another clutch fan spanner wrench to get that @$#% power steering pump pulley out of your way.(i used my lisle 44180 and 36mm. pump pulley has some holes in it that the tool will fit into.) service manual says just take the belt off and take out the belt tensioner. i have yet to find someone that can do this. so just take the pulley off and make it easier for yourself. thinking about throwing this mechanical fan and shroud in the trash while im at it. tired of cutting my wrists open haha.

cevans · **Joined:** Wed Aug 24, 2005 12:48 pm **Posts:** 278

Conveniently the pulley on the serpentine belt tensioner is the same as the idler pulley, so if you just need the pulley you can save some money over the whole assembly.

Thats a nasty photo - I've never seen one break like that. When they *do* break it is usually because the clutch pulley on the alternator has failed. The clutch absorbs the vibrations in the engine and prevents the serpentine belt from "snapping" back and forth. Once the clutch goes, that snapping action destroys the tensioner.

Oh, a regarding "aftermarket" - skip any brands other than OE Mopar, or better yet, VM. We've tried a few other "third parties" and the failure rate was higher than anything we've ever seen before.

mk38tech · **Joined:** Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:25 pm **Posts:** 72

from what i have found so far the "mopar" part is a vm which im guessing is italian made as well. i do recommend people take an extra 30 minutes and put a scribe to all the pulleys when you have the belt off for any reason get out the belt leftovers inside the ribs. are there any other symptoms for the alternator? i havent seen any problems with my voltage. no chirps on startup and shutdown. it does take me about 3 seconds of engaging the starter before it will start on a cold day(30-40 deg). need to do a battery check this weekend

papaindigo · **Posted:** Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:31 am

I won't speak to internal alternator problems that may result if battery charging problems but the external issue is pretty easy to check. Probably should do at each oil change, wish I'd thought of that before. At idle look down the serp belt from the alternator to the serp belt tensioner; if the tensioner is doing anything but slightly twitching it's almost certain your alternator pulley is shot or headed that way and can in the nearer term take out the tensioner.

mk38tech · **Joined:** Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:25 pm **Posts:** 72

why does this vehicles belt need a alternator clutch when my other 4 diesel vehicles have never had one? im going with a free wheel alternator when i find one. if it doesnt work out oh well. an alternator clutch is the dumbest scam ive ever heard of

dirtmover · **Posted:** Mon Jun 17, 2013 8:05 am

mk38tech wrote:

why does this vehicles belt need a alternator clutch when my other 4 diesel vehicles have never had one? im going with a free wheel alternator when i find one. if it doesnt work out oh well. an alternator clutch is the dumbest scam ive ever heard of

It's not just this vehicle, many modern vehicles are using them. If you do a quick search you'll find there's plenty of information out there including videos comparing solid pulleys, one way clutches and decouplers. Looking at your use of punctuation and captalisation I suspect that this may be too much effort so here you go :wink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... KMf-_Yl-AI

Watch and learn! The effectiveness of the decoupler is quite impressive.

Now, I suspect the real question should be, "Why didn't Chrysler specify something more robust for this particular application?"

After Market Tensioner Pulley for CRD?

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