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well it wouldnt be sunday without finding something wrong with the X.
after replacing rear bearings and re-threading cylinder 1 spark plug hole i took the car for a test drive.
i dont know if my new noise is new or old as the old rear wheel bearings made so much noise the car shook.
but what im hearing/seeing now is odd.
feels and sounds like i have a snow tire on the front right side, it speeds up and slows down with the cars speed.
kind of a growl sound
i jacked it up and there is a small bit of movement of the wheel when i hold it at 12oc and 6oc, movement is felt at the top inside edge of tire....so firstly i suspect a wheel bearing....BUT... look at the attached pics...there is some kind of rubber filings all around the pulley and top of the alternator cover. with engine running all pulleys are turning fine, i dont see any binding so any idea where this rubbery stuff is coming from?
It's hard to tell from the pictures but does the back of the belt have grooves in it. Almost looks like something is rubbing on the back of the belt. Is the engine shifting on it's mounts under load?
the side which should be grooved is and the side which has the writing on doesnt have much writing and is smooth to the touch.
the belt tensioner moves back and forth very rapidly with the engine running, attached a video but i dont know if it really shows the movement well enough.
i dont know if the engine is shifting when under load, could you advise how to check please.
is the belt tensioner supposed to be moving like it is?.
another thing i noticed is the idler above left of the tensioner has what appears to be a narrow stripe of rubber around it which i was able to scrape off when i tried
i compared the belts hickness with my parts car belt and it is the same
.
im thinking (and please correct me if im wrong) that as the majority of rubber is near the tensioner, and tensioners are a "wear" item ans as its moving in what appears a weird way, that the tensioner needs to be replaced!.
i ordered one on ebay for $39 so cheap enough to risk it and anyway, its good to replace old items ( so i keep tellin myself!)
but id still like to look into the engine mounts
Look at the inside edge of belt (the outside would be more obvious and easy to see) for wear/rubbing. The oscillating you see in the video you posted is pretty normal for idling load. That's kinda the purpose of the tensioner. If it were "swinging" significantly, that would be it's worn out. Also check visually as best you can that the entire belt is running in a straight line on all pulleys. Think about an imaginary line looking down going perpendicular to your view that the belt tracks left and right (hood/firewall) across the pulleys and not tracking off kilter on one or more pulleys. The non pulley side being real smooth is bothersome. If you run your finger on it does it feel slick with very little "rough" feeling? If yes, that sorta indicates to me the belt is touching/rubbing somewhere. Also take the belt off the tensioner and see if the tensioner pulley/arm moves from side-to-side (engine to outboard. This would indicate the pivot bearing is worn. Again when this happens you usually see edge wear (outside or more often inside).
Found a video that explains it better than I did =
Also when looking at belt tracking make sure everything is turning (like A/C not being turned off) because it could look normal and be intermittent when the compressor kicks on.
Last edited by Dell Gailey; 09-23-2018 at 07:50 PM.
Need 2 people to see the "shift" of engine. This video shows a pretty badly worn mount. But even moderately worn mounts, you'll see (not necessarily feel as in video) the difference in kinda jerking/thumping from R to D to R to D, etc. I always paid a bit more attention to the engine sound too, there is a marked difference when it "strains" while rocking sideways. Truthfully, I have rarely seen this wear the belt because everthing is pretty much bolted on the engine. Not saying it's not happened, I've just rarely seen it.
thanks dell, all those vids were very informative.
i'll go look at the x some more tomorrow, at this point the videos are more pointing me in the direction of tensioner and belt issue.
thanks again....this car will be brand new again soon at this rate!...haha
i hadnt thought it might be old rubber ...hmmm thats possible.
i diaged it as a bearing but neighbor came and looked and suggested maybe cv joints, i think i'll get a bearing and have that installed for me.
Yeah CV could be it also. I had mine on the passenger side replaced last year when I didn't install the "A frame" control arm (the one with ball joint) correctly and the shop owner kicked the wheel towards the engine while I was moving car forward and backwards tearing it out. I think that's the one you have to be careful of moving the shaft on, too.
I read that post last year. I had a different thought to why the last guy had a tensioner that wasn't resetting the tension automatically when he installed the new one besides over tightening (doubtful) or a bad new part (maybe but still doubtful). Bet he didn't line the "nubs or tabs" on the back of the tensioner to the engine side "pockets" (makes sure the tensioner is in the right position).
I read that post last year. I had a different thought to why the last guy had a tensioner that wasn't resetting the tension automatically when he installed the new one besides over tightening (doubtful) or a bad new part (maybe but still doubtful). Bet he didn't line the "nubs or tabs" on the back of the tensioner to the engine side "pockets" (makes sure the tensioner is in the right position).
i was just telling my neighbor about a guy who asked me to fix his new tensioner as he messed it up...thats exactly what he did.... mis aligned the nubs.
oem belt ordered
oem bearing ordered
el cheapo tensioner ordered
I had that residue from a new belt on a different car. I of course panicked and took it back to the shop where I was told it was normal. Did not really believe this but the belt went on for another 60.000 miles with no problem, and no more residue. Just that first bit.
thanks for that.
it is possible that its old, my only conceen is my sharp eye...to have not noticed it before is certainly questionable but nevertheless possible....i'll check for engine movement and have a thorough investigation later today.
having watched the vids that dell linked, i now know the tensioner has more to its job than i thought, and there are parts that can wear without really being able to tell without watching it while driving down the street... lol
and as the tensioner looks original and i dont know the age of the belt, im not upset about replacing them.
well i dont remember the tensioner being that much of a pain to change but today it kicked my *** all day.
once removed i could see the bearing was pretty shot as well as the pulley.
the idler to its left was also shot.
i took an idler off the parts car as the store didnt have one. attached a pic of the 2 idlers.
i think the black gunk must have always been there as the belt seemed in good condition, though im no expert.
i now have the new tensioner and belt on and a replacement idler.
with the engine running, the tensioner does not vibrate back and forth like the old one did.
old tensioner my idler on right, parts car idler on left tensioner close up
09-23-2018, 04:30 PM
possible serpentine belt problem?
