Replacing Serpentine Belt Tensioner (not just bearing) (1 Viewer)

[unclemat]

If you didn't already do this, usually there is crud embedded into the hex head of that bolt. It is wise to use a pick to clean that stuff out.

Also I'm not sure stainless was the right move here.. galvanic corrosion can be an issue between it and some alloys of aluminum. Did you use anti-seize?

Yeah, I cleaned the crud, but the hex socket was already half eaten by salt.

316 stainless should be ok. Is the stock black oxide coated plain steel any better galvanic corrosion wise? I debated whether to put anti-seize, but in the end did not. The original bolt was clean inside, just the head was in poor shape. I am a fan of antiseize, but less so when it comes to using it on small fasteners going into aluminum engine block - I dislike the guesswork on torque setting after applying anti-sieze.

Truck has ~113k miles. I am planing on swapping radiator and some other stuff at 150k (or sooner if I have to, but my radiator is totally crack free), I will inspect the bolt then.

There is an E-Torx 47mm BMW connecting rod bolt that fits - part #11247516808. I saw someone using that on a Tundra forum. But will shallow e-torx head will fare better.

Best bet is moving somewhere where salt isn't used (here it is abused, really)...

 

[doru]

About galvanic corrosion, zinc and steel are much closer to aluminum so less

Yeah, I cleaned the crud, but the hex socket was already half eaten by salt.

316 stainless should be ok. Is the stock black oxide coated plain steel any better galvanic corrosion wise? I debated whether to put anti-seize, but in the end did not. The original bolt was clean inside, just the head was in poor shape. I am a fan of antiseize, but less so when it comes to using it on small fasteners going into aluminum engine block - I dislike the guesswork on torque setting after applying anti-sieze.

Truck has ~113k miles. I am planing on swapping radiator and some other stuff at 150k (or sooner if I have to, but my radiator is totally crack free), I will inspect the bolt then.

There is an E-Torx 47mm BMW connecting rod bolt that fits - part #11247516808. I saw someone using that on a Tundra forum. But will shallow e-torx head will fare better.

Best bet is moving somewhere where salt isn't used (here it is abused, really)...

Here is a link to zinc based anti seize.

Zinc Based Anti-Seize/Lubricant | Meets Military Specifications | Superior Industries, Inc.

A specially formulated zinc based anti seize formulated with the most advanced additives available. Meets Military Specification, Mil-PRF-22361 (Mil-T-22361) and CID-A-A-59313.

www.superior-industries.com

The black oxide is better than stainless.
The marine grade stainless is good for the bolt itself but not for the engine. În that case the sacrificial metal is your engine aluminum. When using zinc antiseize the sacrificial metal is the zinc.

 

[rhd0002]

Requesting a little help. I replaced my tensioner pulley, and not the full assembly. Mostly due to the fact I didn’t have a 6mm wrench I could crank on, but I had already dropped the lower bolt on the assembly. I have the belt back on and can’t seem to get the 12mm standard hex bolt to go home. I have now confused myself as to which bolt goes to the under carriage, and to the tensioner assembly. See pic.I am pretty sure it’s the longest one, or at least I hope bc otherwise I stripped it somehow. It’s also possible I need to take tension off the system before tightening this up, but wanting to avoid that bc it was a pain for me to releases tension and get the pin in place to hold the pulley. Thoughts? Did I lose the right bolt, strip it, or need to get tension off the system?

 

[bloc]

Requesting a little help. I replaced my tensioner pulley, and not the full assembly. Mostly due to the fact I didn’t have a 6mm wrench I could crank on, but I had already dropped the lower bolt on the assembly. I have the belt back on and can’t seem to get the 12mm standard hex bolt to go home. I have now confused myself as to which bolt goes to the under carriage, and to the tensioner assembly. See pic.I am pretty sure it’s the longest one, or at least I hope bc otherwise I stripped it somehow. It’s also possible I need to take tension off the system before tightening this up, but wanting to avoid that bc it was a pain for me to releases tension and get the pin in place to hold the pulley. Thoughts? Did I lose the right bolt, strip it, or need to get tension off the system?View attachment 3793753

By far the easiest method to manipulate the tensioner is from the bottom. Remove both skids and the center spine part. You'll then be able to get a breaker bar in there to move the tensioner.

I prefer to do all of this with the belt completely out of the vehicle.

That said, the two left bolts in your picture are for your skids. More info:

Stock skid plate / splash guard bolt locations & part numbers

It seems this comes up pretty often, and having just removed my stock skids it was easy to take the picture I had been thinking of for a while. You'll need three part numbers to attach the stock splash guards. 12x M8 large washer bolt, these go into the purple locations on the diagram...

forum.ih8mud.com

I'd also strongly suggest getting a set of allen bit to 3/8" square adapters to do the whole tensioner. Yes just the pulley will help, but the spring in the tensioner does weaken over time and there are reports of people not being able to solve belt noise until they fully replaced the assembly.

 

[rhd0002]

By far the easiest method to manipulate the tensioner is from the bottom. Remove both skids and the center spine part. You'll then be able to get a breaker bar in there to move the tensioner.

I prefer to do all of this with the belt completely out of the vehicle.

That said, the two left bolts in your picture are for your skids. More info:

Stock skid plate / splash guard bolt locations & part numbers

It seems this comes up pretty often, and having just removed my stock skids it was easy to take the picture I had been thinking of for a while. You'll need three part numbers to attach the stock splash guards. 12x M8 large washer bolt, these go into the purple locations on the diagram...

forum.ih8mud.com

I'd also strongly suggest getting a set of allen bit to 3/8" square adapters to do the whole tensioner. Yes just the pulley will help, but the spring in the tensioner does weaken over time and there are reports of people not being able to solve belt noise until they fully replaced the assembly.

Bingo. The Allen bit adapters were the way to go, thanks for the advice @bloc . Only 14$ at harbor freight. I switched out the assembly pretty easily. It was the longer bolt FYI. I was working with the center spine in previously and making it harder on myself. That cleared things up. The link to the skid plates was useful for reinstall since it was now a week later as well.

 

[vkrum1231]

Please help…
M6 bolt that holds the tensioner rounded off..

I tried these extractors from amazon and the extractors rounded off too…

https://a.co/d/4eKKVvx

https://a.co/d/aw1yo0d

What else would you do? Any good extractors?

Thinking of, drilling off the m6 head and pull out the tensioner. Then get the remaining bolt off with this…

https://a.co/d/1ULxj4i

 

[doru]

Yes, you can remove the tensioner and then try to get the rest of the bolt out.
But I would use a Bolt Buster Heat Induction Tool to free up the bolt (or similar). It is like a torch heating the bolt quickly but w/o a flame. The remaining bolt shaft would be ideal to wrap the coil around. This is the best way to prevent damage to the engine where the bolt threads in.

 

[vkrum1231]

Yes, you can remove the tensioner and then try to get the rest of the bolt out.
But I would use a Bolt Buster Heat Induction Tool to free up the bolt (or similar). It is like a torch heating the bolt quickly but w/o a flame. The remaining bolt shaft would be ideal to wrap the coil around. This is the best way to prevent damage to the engine where the bolt threads in.

Thanks for your inputs.. I’ll give that a shot

 

[bloc]

But I would use a Bolt Buster Heat Induction Tool to free up the bolt (or similar). It is like a torch heating the bolt quickly but w/o a flame. The remaining bolt shaft would be ideal to wrap the coil around. This is the best way to prevent damage to the engine where the bolt threads in.

Will that work on a recessed bolt head or does it need to be protruding? I’ve never used one before, but heard really good things.

 

[doru]

It needs to be protruding to be effective as the intense EM field is inside the heating coil. One work around is to drill a hole into the recessed bolt and stick something made of steel. Then heat the insert and the heat will transfer into the bolt. It does need to be tight for heat conduction to work well. I've never tried that, but I did have to remove a 4" bolt passing through solid aluminum subframe, fused solid to the frame on its entire length, by heating the exposed threaded end of the bolt that was long enough for just a bracket and a nut. The bolt end was bright red - a lot hotter than what you usually need for regular stuck nuts. The bolt was junk after that, but the frame was saved. The aluminum oxid was transformed into fine white dust.
For many jobs, a torch will just do it a lot cheaper. For confined spaces and around very expensive parts or in cases like I described above when you need to generate a lot of heat in a short time, the induction is the way to go.

 

[bloc]

It needs to be protruding to be effective as the intense EM field is inside the heating coil. One work around is to drill a hole into the recessed bolt and stick something made of steel. Then heat the insert and the heat will transfer into the bolt. It does need to be tight for heat conduction to work well. I've never tried that, but I did have to remove a 4" bolt passing through solid aluminum subframe, fused solid to the frame on its entire length, by heating the exposed threaded end of the bolt that was long enough for just a bracket and a nut. The bolt end was bright red - a lot hotter than what you usually need for regular stuck nuts. The bolt was junk after that, but the frame was saved. The aluminum oxid was transformed into fine white dust.
For many jobs, a torch will just do it a lot cheaper. For confined spaces and around very expensive parts or in cases like I described above when you need to generate a lot of heat in a short time, the induction is the way to go.

Thanks for the info.

 

[vkrum1231]

So.. I got the tensioner out, replaced water pump. I spun the ac compressor clutch and I hear this sound. Is this sound normal? Sounds pretty dry

I sprayed it with brake cleaner to clean up oil spills from a previous oil change job..

 

[bloc]

So.. I got the tensioner out, replaced water pump. I spun the ac compressor clutch and I hear this sound. Is this sound normal? Sounds pretty dry

I sprayed it with brake cleaner to clean up oil spills from a previous oil change job..

Definitely not normal.

IIRC the clutch and bearing is available separately from the compressor.. so that should save some work.