RichardAllen Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I am looking for a quality rerplacement serpentine belt tensioner for my 300TDi (1997 Defender 90 CSW). I asked one supplier for the OEM tensioner and got a Dayco one with far too much play in the bearing for my liking. I sent it back. I ordered an OEM one from another supplier and this time got a Britpart one (Hmmm), also with a lot of play in the bearing, both around the £50 mark. Does anyone know definitively who the OEM would be for the serpentine belt tensioner for a 1997 engine ? Or do I just spalsh out almost double and get the LR genuine one ? Moderators: Sorry if this is OT, please repost in Defender section nif that is more appropriate Regards Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 IIRC, there's a thread on here [might be in Les H's section in the Tech Archive index] about replacing the bearings. found it http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=3904 item here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardAllen Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 IIRC, there's a thread on here [might be in Les H's section in the Tech Archive index] about replacing the bearings.found it http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=3904 item here Thnaks for that Ralph. I saw the tech archive thread before and was a bit cagey about filing notches (potential stress concentrator) in it. Looking at it again, it may be possible to get the circlip out without the notch, and the wheel does not look like it is stressed much anyway. SKF bearing on order. Regards Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reiny Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Changing the bearing is a very simple job. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes tops. It may not cure the squeak though. I changed the bearing on mine last year and it kept squeaking. A new tensioner was the only solution to the squeak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardAllen Posted June 17, 2009 Author Share Posted June 17, 2009 Changing the bearing is a very simple job. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes tops. It may not cure the squeak though. I changed the bearing on mine last year and it kept squeaking. A new tensioner was the only solution to the squeak. The dreaded squeak is the problem I am trying to fix. Someone on here reckoned that if the bearing was OK, the squeek came from the belt squirming across the wheel surface. So I tried graphite dust and that worked OK for about 50 miles. The fact that lubricating with graphite eases the problem temporarily seems to back the belt squirming idea up. Someone else fixed the problem with a washer a 9 o'clock between the tensioner body and the engine. This would indicate that the tensioner wheel is not exactly square with the belt surface, and the washer squares it up. Being out of square might therefore cause the squirming. I am wondering if the play I am getting in the wheel bearings in the two new tensioners I have bought means that self aligning bearings are now being used in the tensioner wheel to allow for the wheel being out of square and thus stop the squeak. Anyway, I will fit my wobbly new Britpart tensioner and see if I can get a longer term fix, and if it goes wrong, I have ordered a new SKF bearing to try and fix the old tensioner. I suspect greater minds than I have tried to fix this one . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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