V8-250 Saloon: Pulley Tensioner

[classiclife]

Hello,

Whilst removing the bolt-on components from my engine , as part of the stripping down process, I had a good look at the pulley tensioner which I imagine to be the original item.

Spinning the pulley revealed a significant noise and without doubt the bearing was shot or certainly en-route to being so.

The reason I flag this, is that some engine bay noises can be hard to detect as a point of origin; I wonder how many an unsolved engine noise could well be a worn bearing on this particular tensioner ??

I picked a new one up from DMG and the spinning rotation is completely silent

Regards.

Richard.

[tjt77]

A Common problem and not surprising given the age of our cars.. another issue, is that these tensions often seize up over time and will no longer tension the belt.. they are however, relatively easy to remove and dismantle.. always wise to add some anti seize to the shaft of tensioner when its apart.. I note that the last few replacement pulleys I have sourced form Uk were Alloy..rather than cast iron of the originals.. its the same part as used on the Mk2 jaguar and 'other' Xk engines. I used to replace just the bearing in the pulley, but the cost of a 'ready to fit' new pully assy has dropped significantly, making the fiddly job of replacing the bearing alone redundant due to practicality..

[classiclife]

Yes, fully agree with all that and the current cost of a new pulley wheel assembly is just over £30; as you say the cost outweighs the personal reconstruction of the part.

The unit I got the other day is alloy; photo attached. Just hasten to add, that is not the lounge carpet in the photo !!

Best wishes.

Richard.