Good video my friend. Just got done with one on a 98 Astro van with a 4.3 . Made the most awful grinding noise and at first I assumed it to be the alternator, which is directly above the tensioner. Put a new tensioner on and she was as quiet as new. God bless
That sounds like a failing AC compressor bearing. Probably more than just the AC clutch pulley bearing because it's worse under compressor load, but it's hard to be sure about that. Also, can't exclude a bad AC clutch. The extra drag from the failing bearing put extra tension on the belt, which caused pulsatile jerking of the spring of the tensioner. What did it turn out to be? You could have both.
I think the belt tensioner on most cars should be replaced at about 120k miles because of the sometimes propensity to pop or fail without warning - and these plastic radiators are kind of iffy too - either part can cause big problems...
Nope - it was the belt tensioner, believe it or not. That's all it took to fix this one. Seriously....! Ya see, we start out with what's easy and cheap - and with high mileage, the belt tensioner needed replacing anyway. And that fixed it.. it's as quiet as a mouse now.
Thanks for your reply. These short clips, with explanation, are great.
Good video my friend. Just got done with one on a 98 Astro van with a 4.3 . Made the most awful grinding noise and at first I assumed it to be the alternator, which is directly above the tensioner. Put a new tensioner on and she was as quiet as new. God bless
That sounds like a failing AC compressor bearing. Probably more than just the AC clutch pulley bearing because it's worse under compressor load, but it's hard to be sure about that. Also, can't exclude a bad AC clutch. The extra drag from the failing bearing put extra tension on the belt, which caused pulsatile jerking of the spring of the tensioner. What did it turn out to be? You could have both.
I think the belt tensioner on most cars should be replaced at about 120k miles because of the sometimes propensity to pop or fail without warning - and these plastic radiators are kind of iffy too - either part can cause big problems...
Nope - it was the belt tensioner, believe it or not. That's all it took to fix this one. Seriously....! Ya see, we start out with what's easy and cheap - and with high mileage, the belt tensioner needed replacing anyway. And that fixed it.. it's as quiet as a mouse now.