Heading to church on Sunday evening, I heard a horrible noise under the hood and lost power steering and A/C. I instantly knew that the belt broke, so I headed to the parts shop and picked up at belt. The last time I replaced the belt was then I changed the timing belt and did everything with the fan and shroud off which was not problem. This time with the shroud and fan on it was a real pain. I finally broke down and rented a belt tool and after a bit of work I got the belt on. I start up the jeep to take it on a test drive when I hear something funny, so I shut it off. I take a look and this is what I find, looks like it is time for a new tensioner. With just 60K on the last one I bet this is what caused the first one to separate. Time to start looking for a new one, has anyone found any good deals?

I found an aftermaket oneon ebay, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tensioner-Pulle ... p=mtr#shId

Not sure if I want to take a chance with this or not, it appears to be a crown part. Found another one here, http://www.jeepoutpost.com/tensioner-se ... -5072440ab.

Both are over $100 cheaper than the factory, but are they worth the risk??

I guess I'm going to order the Litens tensioner from IDpart tommorrow, that is if I don't read anything here tomorrow that would convince me otherwise.

That thing looks caddywompus for sure. I say get the good tensioner. Don't cheap out. I checked my rollers/tensioner bearings this past weekend when I did my timing belt service, and they seemed pretty good. I was ready to rebuild them with new bearings. It looks like perhaps your tensioner is shot. Hard to tell from the pictures though. The fan clutch tool makes things much easier. Good luck.

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Mike Rausch
Bear, Delaware
2006 Liberty Sport CRD 253K

If your alternator clutch is phucked it will eat tensioners.

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http://www.Colorado4Wheel.com
"Its not about what you can DO with your Jeep, its about where you can GO with your Jeep."
Knowledgeable - But Caustic

Anyway to check for this?

is it the tensioner itself or the tensioner idler pulley? just checking because the pulley can be rebuild for 14 bucks.
here. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=76128

It appears that the shell of the tensioner is separating, thanks for the suggestion though!

I have a new tensioner for $70 including shipping.

A bad alternator pulley can beat the tensioner apart over time and is typically the root cause for failure.

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Providers of wholly developed aftermarket solutions for the KJ CRD.
(248) 977 - 9531

Mopar or aftermarket?

Just saw something that triggered my memory in another thread, there was red dust on and near the alternator pulley. I attributed that to the belt somehow, but I bet that was from the pulley "biting the dust"

Exactly. Red dust=new pulley or alternator.

DOC

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2005 KJ CRD Ltd Detroit TrueTrac Bilsteins G2 GDE "HOT" ECU GDE TCM "Tow Tune" "euro" TC SEGR Weeks Elbow New HG at 130K ARPs Clean CAT aFe Filter Magnaflow Exhaust EHM Cumminos In-Tank Lift Pump Hayden Fan Clutch Nylon Fan VH Enabled with GDE lower shutoff point Recalibrated Temp Gauge Tekonsha Prodigy Sears P-1 ZDDP

On a side note, when the belt came off the battery light did not come on which I thought was very strange. I need to see if the light even works.

Thanks Keith!!! Paypal sent.

Comments:
1. do yourself a favor if you have the fan and shroud out and mod the shroud to make future access easier. See viewtopic.php?f=98&t=64278&p=709322#p709322 and the links posted there.
2. if you have not already done so I'd recommend spending ca. $50 and replacing the weak OEM fan clutch with the Hayden 2905. You can also swap in the OEM gasser nylon fan or keep the metal one you have now. Either way the clutch is the important part.
3. X2 on bad alternator clutch eating serp belt tensioners. Red dust or at least a fair amount of it is a sign of a bad tensioner pulley and another sign is with the engine at idle look down the belt to the tensioner and if it's doing anything more than barely twitching the pulley is bad. In theory the pulley can be replaced if you can get it off for about $90 or you can get a lifetime warranty alternator from like AutoZone for ca. $150 or an OEM alternator from say IDparts for ca. $400. Whatever you do don't go cheap on the pulley or try a solid or "reactive" one.
4. light might not immediately show up when the belt goes but it should come on briefly when you first turn on the ignition or when you invoke the instrument cluster test by holding the trip odometer button while turning the ignition on. FYI if the LED bulb is out a dealer will try to sell you a new cluster for ca. $700 plus labor but if you or someone you know or have access to is a good hand with a solder gun the burned out LED can be replaced for a parts cost of like $2.00

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

Finally got this all fixed. The clutch was covered in red dust,

This is what the tensioner I pulled off looked like,


The battery light does work, on every other car that I have had when the belt to the alternator went, the battery light came one.

A big thanks to Keith and GDE for the tensioner!

I have determined that just like smoke in electronics, once you let the magical red dust out of a clutch pulley, it is finished.