boaterboy Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 When viewed from above with the engine on my vehicle running it is evident that the pulley 'bounces', ie in and out at right angles to the crankshaft. With a spanner on the bolt it is possible to move the pulley from side to side, again at right angles to the crankshaft. Is all of the above in order, please? Thank you for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 No, not right. Sounds like it needs replacing, or has come loose, most likely the former. There's a write up on here about how to I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boaterboy Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Thank you for that, Bowie69. Looking at diagrams of the tensioner in trying to understand how it could have failed, it appears that the pulley is mounted at the end of a casting which incorporates either a clock type spring or a rubber moulding providing a torsional resistance? Do you know which? If the latter, presumably the compound could have gone soft? Have you any experience of driving with a 'soft' tensioner and, if so, what is the potential for causing damage? I just need to travel 50-60 miles before being able to get it fixed and don't want to worsen the situation. Thank you for your ongoing help, very much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawl12 Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 There's a torsion spring in the tensioner - to take up variations in belt length & ensure correct belt tension. So it will move if you load it up against the spring. Ours definitely "oscillates" a bit with the engine running- but not a lot.Possibly due to large no. Of pulleys & not all running perfectly true. I've not seen a soft or weak spring yet - they seem to generally give up with noisy / sloppy bearing. If its very easy to deflect the belt between the pulleys, the spring may be knackered & the tensioner needs replacing. How many miles has the engine done? How much is the tensioner wheel "bouncing" ? Just a couple of mm or lots more ? If lots, you need to look at the other pulleys to work out which 1 is bent or has very knackered bearings. If the movement is only a few mm, you should be fine for 50 miles. Paul 2001 D2 186,000 miles & climbing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boaterboy Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Thanks for all that, Pawl12. It's not easy to deflect the belt between pulleys. The belt seems pretty taut. As I mentioned before, with a ring spanner on the bolt head of the tensioner it is possible to move it (at right angles to the crankshaft). From what I read elsewhere I get the impression it should require a lot of force to move the pulley against the tensioner spring? The engine came up to 100k miles only two days ago. As best that I can judge the tensioner pulley 'bounces' about 3-4mm from one extreme to the other. Looking at the other pulleys they all seem to be running true - a knackered pulley bearing or bent pulley elsewhere would be easy to spot with the engine running, ie the pulley would be running out of true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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