C180 (94) serpentine tensioner wear?

[daveseavista]

Hi. There is mechanical noise coming from the front of the engine of my petrol C180 1994. I suspected one of the ancillary components so I removed the serpentine belt and moved each pulley in turn. There was no end float on the serpentine tensioner but I could rock it top to bottom and feel movement. Is this normal or could this be causing the noise?

Many thanks in advance Dave

 

[television]

If you have a damper fitted it could be that, that is if you have one

 

[daveseavista]

Hi Malcolm
Yes there is a damper from the thermostat housing going down to the tensioner. Mine is different to the Haynes manual as it shows a spring system mine does not have. Do you think it is the tensioner pulley bearing or the damper?

Many thanks Dave

 

[television]

With the damper undo one end and test it,it should be quite stiff to pull in and out, once faulty they really can rattle

 

[kul1]

I had a similar issue on my 202 and it was the damper, not expensive to source.

 

[daveseavista]

Hi
I have checked the damper and it is stiff when pushed down but can be pulled up with almost no effort. I will replace this first. There still appears to be play on the tensioner pulley so I will replace the tensioner if the damper does not fix the noise. Many thanks again.

 

[television]

Hi
I have checked the damper and it is stiff when pushed down but can be pulled up with almost no effort. I will replace this first. There still appears to be play on the tensioner pulley so I will replace the tensioner if the damper does not fix the noise. Many thanks again.

They will solve all of your problems

 

[daveseavista]

Hi I have changed the tensioner damper. I needed to buy a viscous fan spanner to remove the fan as normal spanners will not fit. The damper has a rear nut with a 10mm hex socket in the rear. I could not locate the hex drive into the socket fully with the tensioner in place so I removed it and did the job on the bench. I also replaced the serpentine belt at the same time as I had no idea how old it was. On first try it does sound quieter but as the problem was intermittent time will tell.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[daveseavista]

Hi The damper solved the rattle noise but there was a wining noise still present. I changed the belt tensioner pulley wheel and that has solved the problem completely.

Many thanks for the help.
Dave

 

[television]

Pleased its all OK and sorry I missed your last post, it just gets too busy at times