Hey guys, my 03 3.9 is starting to make some noise from the serpintine belt. It has 44,000 miles on it. Do u think it would be a good time to change the idler pulley and belt tensioner on it as well? Im just not sure what the average life of these parts is on this car. Also, do these engines use two idlers? I read somewhere that they do but I'm not sure. Thanks.
Idler Pulleys, Belt Tensioner
- Thread starter 238LS
- Start date
I just had mine replaced, there are two idler pulleys and a pulley/bearing on the belt tensioner. On this diagram below, they are numbers 2 & 8 for the idlers... and number 6 for the belt tensioner. My car had 102,000 miles and quieted down after replacing these three parts.
Note this is for a 2000-2002 LS V8... I don't know if it differs for 2003-2006 V8:
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/raschmidt/Automotive/V8Beltrouting.jpg
Note this is for a 2000-2002 LS V8... I don't know if it differs for 2003-2006 V8:
http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/ff342/raschmidt/Automotive/V8Beltrouting.jpg
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
One idler and one tensioner.
AFAIK, they normally last quite a while. I'm at about 80K miles on my 06 and I think somewhere around 150K on my 04. I did replace the belt on my 04 already, but it was just because it was easy to do while I was changing the cooling system parts.
My 06 is doing some chirping, but it's the damper pulley causing the problem, not the idler or tensioner.
AFAIK, they normally last quite a while. I'm at about 80K miles on my 06 and I think somewhere around 150K on my 04. I did replace the belt on my 04 already, but it was just because it was easy to do while I was changing the cooling system parts.
My 06 is doing some chirping, but it's the damper pulley causing the problem, not the idler or tensioner.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
44K on an '03? Wow. Belt is not listed until 100K (even then its just an inspect) so unless it looks dry, worn, or cracked, etc. it should be fine. It could be the tensioner. Look for rusty dust coming from the bearing area... on all the pulleys for that matter.
upnorthLS
Active LVC Member
I have an '04 and it had a belt slapping sound at first start up when it was cold outside. There was a tsb on this issue and found it was the idler pulley. I took it off and went to a local shop and they popped a new bearing in it for about 15 dollars. It's quiet now. If you can get the number of the bearing it is easy to change and considerably cheaper.
mlara1129
Dedicated LVC Member
how difficult is this job?
diskfunktional
Dedicated LVC Member
off topic sorry but mlara I like your sig.
djwhy60
Active LVC Member
Took me about 30 min on my Gen 1. Two pullies and a tensioner. Hardest part was rethreading the damn new belt. For those with Gen 1's don' forget one pulley has a lip and the other doesn't.
I am opening this old thread to post my issue that seems to be related to a belt tensioner or idler pulley. I have a 2006 Lincoln LS with 118,000 miles (V8 engine).
Does this appear to be a worn belt tensioner or some other idler pulley issue? Car had had a slight roughness for a few weeks. Now, It is louder and the check engine light came on once.
This is the start up and idle drop. This is when it get's louder.
This is the crankshaft pulley and tensioner pulley:
[video=vimeo;70741074]http://vimeo.com/70741074[/video]
Does this appear to be a worn belt tensioner or some other idler pulley issue? Car had had a slight roughness for a few weeks. Now, It is louder and the check engine light came on once.
This is the start up and idle drop. This is when it get's louder.
This is the crankshaft pulley and tensioner pulley:
[video=vimeo;70741074]http://vimeo.com/70741074[/video]
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
Not seeing or hearing anything to suggest a belt tensioner issue, but never say never...
You need to get the codes read to see why the check engine light is on. Even if you did have tensioner problems, it wouldn't trigger the check engine light or cause rough running. Marginal COPs are a good guess at this point.
There are a lot of water spots there. Are you sure you don't also have a leak in the cooling system?
You need to get the codes read to see why the check engine light is on. Even if you did have tensioner problems, it wouldn't trigger the check engine light or cause rough running. Marginal COPs are a good guess at this point.
There are a lot of water spots there. Are you sure you don't also have a leak in the cooling system?
No leak. All plastics pieces have been changed in the last 30K miles. I did the degas bottle about 3000 miles ago. It never rains here, so the engine never gets washed off. I just wiped a ton of dust off. I did just get my oil changed at the local dealer last weekend. They did not notice anything then. Yes, I should get the codes read to see what I am looking at.
All (I believe) coils have been changed in the last 50K miles with Motorcraft. I guess it is possible they could be going bad again...but I doubt it. The shake does make it seem as if maybe there is a weak coil...or maybe a dirty MAP sensor? The MAP sensor was changed maybe some 20K ago.
The jumping around of the pulleys in my video seem normal? Seems excessive, but then, I never look at them.
All (I believe) coils have been changed in the last 50K miles with Motorcraft. I guess it is possible they could be going bad again...but I doubt it. The shake does make it seem as if maybe there is a weak coil...or maybe a dirty MAP sensor? The MAP sensor was changed maybe some 20K ago.
The jumping around of the pulleys in my video seem normal? Seems excessive, but then, I never look at them.
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
I'd say that's normal for a misfiring engine. Sudden changes in crankshaft speed causes the tensioner to jump around.
