The main belt tensioner. My 02 MCS with 37K on it is starting to make noise. It is expensive to fix? DIY? Anyone else have this issue?

 

i only replaced one after a customers drive belt snapped(aftermarket). are you mechanically inclined??? it took me about 2 hours on my first try to replace the tensioner.

is straight forward just time consuming. good luck!

 

Some one told me that a special tool is necessary? A long handle thing. Sorry for the low tech but I have never seen it before.

 

you need a tool to compress the spring so you can get the belt on and off and release the tension on the old one.

 

http://outmotoring.com/cooper_s_belt...oner_tool.html

 

Just got mine back from the dealer today for this fix. I was getting a whistling sound that changed in pitch depending on acceleration, but only when the car was cold. The dealer replaced the tensioner and belt, and now the whistle is gone, and it cost me nothing, it was covered by the warranty.

 

Some good tensioner info here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...tensioner+stop

Jim