Hi guys, I figured my car was acting weird because it was out of time. Removed the timing cover, timed it. Now I am in the process of reinstalling all the parts. I put the serpentine belt on the car and removed the key that holds the belt tensioner from pushing on the belt. But the belt is still loose. I checked all my pulleys and they all seem to be in the right place. I removed the tensioner again and the “shock” is very weak. Like I can move the shock in and out very easily. Did I do something wrong? Is that a sign I need a new tensioner? Let me know asap as I have work to get to lol!!! Thanks!

 

Just curious;
Make sure you have the belt routed properly.


Did you happen to reduce the size of the SC pulley (i.e.: 15%, 17%...)? If so have you ordered the proper size (shorter) belt? Or are you trying use the stock size belt?
If the latter, The stock belt will not work.

Have you replaced the tensioner with a new one?
My tensioner was replaced 5k mi or so and does have some play but not enough to rattle/make noise or cause slop in the belt.

 

>still
Was it loose before you started removal / disassembly? If so, recommend check the crank shaft pulley to see if it's coming apart; the internal vulcanized rubber is a very common failure point especially in light of the unusual bad performance, more so if it came on suddenly. Even if it's the original pulley (harmonic dampener) in good shape would replace it with an ATI or PRW / SFI fluid filled model, available through our vendors, Summit, Jegs, etc.

 

^^This^^

The rubber on the OEM crank pulley has actually been known to break/melt and fuse itself back together giving the appearance of being ok, when in fact the pulley has slipped and moved out of alignment.

Also...
While the shock may be bad, the shock doesn't apply tension, tension is from the spring only, the shock just depends the "bounce" of the spring.
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