New Tensioner, Idler Pulleys with New Belt?

[bdcardinal]

I tend to do the tensioner and idler when I do a belt. Last weekend I was trying to sneak out the factory fan on my Mustang to change it out with a 13-14 GT-500 fan without opening the cooling system. Unfortunately I touched the T connector off the t-stat and it started dropping coolant, then I looked at the water pump and saw the weep hole had some orange buildup. I had all the parts on hand because the car was at 62K and change and that is about when we do a lot of the Coyote water pumps. While I had it apart, I also put on the kit to change out the A/C stretch belt to a standard belt. If I was smart I would have spent more time cleaning up whatever buildup was near the timing cover, but I didn't want to spend more time than necessary. I used Ford / Motorcraft parts for everything except the coolant. I didn't have any of the new yellow on hand, and I didn't feel like going to work to get it. So I used some Dex-Cool I had for my truck.

 

[BritishDriver]

I never thought about this before. I usually just replace the serpentine belt and leave the rest until they fail. The belt is just starting to get a bit of chirping at startup, only during very damp, wet weather, heater on, etc.. Goes away in seconds.

Does it make sense to replace the tensioner and idler pulleys (2) with a new serpentine belt? 2013 Jeep Patriot, 102K miles, 2.4L FCA GEMA engine. About $150 for all (OEM).

Thanks!

I know this is an older thread, but the answer for me is yes. I would change all three, the belt, the idler pulley and the tensioner. I just did this on my 2012 Town and Country that is approaching 95,000 miles. I went with the Continental Kit.

 

[doitmyself]

I know this is an older thread, but the answer for me is yes. I would change all three, the belt, the idler pulley and the tensioner. I just did this on my 2012 Town and Country that is approaching 95,000 miles. I went with the Continental Kit.

OP here. I just completed this project on my Jeep Patriot about a month ago at age 9.5 years, 109,000 miles. I am glad that I decided to replace all parts at this time and hopefully it should last until I retire this vehicle. Based on much information here and at other forums, I have joined the camp of using OEM brand parts much of the time. There are exceptions. I.E., Continental, Mitsuboshi, and Bando belts are probably all fine, but I do not trust the other components of those kits (please follow up with your experience after a few years).

The job was relatively easy, especially with YouTube videos showing the various ways. I did have to grind down one socket (height) in order to use my torque wrenches on the fasteners (OCD shadetree mechanic).

I was impressed that the OEM belt looked flawless, but I was getting a bit of cricket-like chirping on cold day start ups last winter.

 

[BritishDriver]

OP here. I just completed this project on my Jeep Patriot about a month ago at age 9.5 years, 109,000 miles. I am glad that I decided to replace all parts at this time and hopefully it should last until I retire this vehicle. Based on much information here and at other forums, I have joined the camp of using OEM brand parts much of the time. There are exceptions. I.E., Continental, Mitsuboshi, and Bando belts are probably all fine, but I do not trust the other components of those kits (please follow up with your experience after a few years).

The job was relatively easy, especially with YouTube videos showing the various ways. I did have to grind down one socket (height) in order to use my torque wrenches on the fasteners (OCD shadetree mechanic).

I was impressed that the OEM belt looked flawless, but I was getting a bit of cricket-like chirping on cold day start ups last winter.

The belt I removed also didn't look bad, but I was having similar symptoms a little bit of noise on startup, and it would last until the car was warm. The noise pattern would increase or decrease following engine rpms. I wanted to change it all before there was a failure. I always thought the rule of thumb was your belts should be looked at regularly and changed around 100,000 miles regardless of condition. Maybe I made that up, I swear I heard it somewhere. They probably told me. Anyhow, the noises are gone.