[trinogt]

95 LX 4.6L

My belt tensioner is moving up and down quickly at idle, and there is a squeak, like twice per second on a regular basis.
When I remove tension (on the tensioner assembly) with the car running, it gets quieter. The pulley on the tensioner doesn't seem to be loose, but the idler has a little side play. Not sure which is squeaking out of the two pulleys.
The belt is newer. Seems to be a lot of tension with the tensioner, so not sure why all this movement. Any suggestions as what to replace first? I don't want to replace tensioner and both pulleys if I don't have to, but will do it if I don't hear anything back soon. LOL! (off to buy some AC refrigerant)
Mark

 

[Casper]

95 LX 4.6L

My belt tensioner is moving up and down quickly at idle, and there is a squeak, like twice per second on a regular basis.
When I remove tension (on the tensioner assembly) with the car running, it gets quieter. The pulley on the tensioner doesn't seem to be loose, but the idler has a little side play. Not sure which is squeaking out of the two pulleys.
The belt is newer. Seems to be a lot of tension with the tensioner, so not sure why all this movement. Any suggestions as what to replace first? I don't want to replace tensioner and both pulleys if I don't have to, but will do it if I don't hear anything back soon. LOL! (off to buy some AC refrigerant)
Mark

just change out the pulley and you are all set. mine used to do the same stuff and a simpple pulley change fixed this. bought the pulley from autozone about 10 buck. just ask for the idler pulley because they are the same pulley.

 

[trinogt]

Too late! LOL
I got the whole tensioner assembly... The new replacement came with a note from Dayco, who say they are the O.E. manufacturer of the tensioner for Ford. They said there were problems with breakage around the square adjustment hole socket, so they redesigned the new one. It has the socket hole at the end now, and reinforcement ribbing all along the length.
I still have the same problem with the belt walking side to side, but maybe it is acceptable? Tensioner moves maybe a little less; not sure if difference is noticeable...

Now I am dealing with AC that fades away after two weeks... And I can find no leak anywhere! With a charge, it gets VERY cold, even colder than you need to keep up to Florida heat, even sitting idle. Problem is, it just doesn't last. I have dye in the system, and I found no leaks of any kind, not even a tiny one...

 

[Casper]

even better you get the whole assembly because my last 94 did break the whole arm.

as long as the pulley is spinning freely without restriction the tensioner will still move a bit and it is normal.

 

[master486]

As far as the A/C goes, make sure you are using the dye correctly. Most require a UV light to detect and if you aren't using that, you won't find it. The leak has to be somewhere.

 

[Rolling-Thunder]

I had a friend of mine that was in the HVAC business find a leak in my 95 T-Birds A/C system, by using a Freon sniffer.

He found a hairline crack on the line between the compressor and condensor.

The crack was where the tube expands to become a muffler (silencer).

 

[Wicked_Paintball]

Take this note from experience . . Change the Idler Pulley bearing and the Entire belt tensioner. Do not hesitate to do this. . . . If the you wait it could kill you...
I had this happen when I was going 45mph. and when the belt melted of from the seized bearing the car swerved the the right becuse I lost power steering.

Any other questions on this I am all ears ! ! !

Here is what the timing cover looked like afterwards

 

[Casper]

the problem is your broken eno is the one with the 1/2" breaker bar attachment in the middle of the arm design right? those are prone to breakage.

if it's the updated part with the square hole near the end of the tensioner arm then the simple pulley change will suffice.