A belt tensioner pulley maintains proper tension on a drive belt, saving wear on bearings and preventing slippage. It is commonly found on modern vehicles and can be adjusted to keep the belt tight as it stretches and ages. A damaged bearing requires the entire assembly to be replaced, and a squeaky belt may be the result of an old, hardened belt or a bad bearing/spring.
A belt tensioner pulley is used to maintain proper tension on a drive belt to ensure no belt slippage while in operating mode. Depending on the size, type and style of rubber belt used on any machine, the belt tensioner pulley can be adjusted to provide the right amount of support without applying an extraordinary amount of pressure to the belt. This also saves wear on the bearings of all pulleys driven by the belt. In a vehicle engine, this type of pulley is commonly found on a spring-loaded bracket that is also used to remove the belt from the system.
Early automobiles used adjustable engine accessories to tighten the fan belt, and an idler pulley was not required on the belt system. Modern vehicles use a single, flat, serpentine-style fan belt with no adjustable engine components. This requires the use of a belt tensioner pulley to keep the belt tight and react to stretching and aging of the belt. By placing the pulley on a spring loaded bracket, the belt can be continuously adjusted as it could stretch and loosen. The spring will ensure that maximum pressure is applied to the belt at all times.
Regardless of the style of tensioner bracket that the pulley attaches to, the typical pulley arrangement is to mount to the bracket with a single bolt through the center of the pulley and into the bracket. The pulley is fitted with a bearing to provide long life while rotating with the belt. A damaged bearing requires the entire assembly to be replaced in the form of a new pulley. The new belt tensioner pulley is simply bolted into place and the belt is looped around it as specified.
Often a squeaky belt is not the result of a bad bearing or pulley, but rather the result of an old, hardened belt. As rubber ages, it can become hard and brittle due to the loss of critical oils from the rubber material. Applying a small amount of belt dressing as the belt rotates occasionally will restore oils to the rubber and eliminate noise from the belt. Occasionally the belt tensioner pulley will have a bearing or spring that will go bad and require service. Installing the new parts will usually cure all the noise in the belt system.
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