Cheap fix 09 belt tensioner

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old tech
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After about 100,000 miles the belt tensioner becomes worn and causing a belt alignment issue. This doesn’t seem to cause any noise that anyone complains of however it can lead to the belt jumping off or jumping just one rib and then water pump pulley shaving that rib off causing the whole belt to jump off . It would be good maintenance to replace the belt assembly at 100k miles with original part no. 17540-54L00 it retails for about $250 but you can get the oem from fitinpart.sg for $72 if you don’t mind the month long wait . The Last FeBest brand tensioner I got turned me off from them but the ones before that were perfect. If you would rather check condition of the tensioner, this is how I recommend. From under the vehicle turn crankshaft counterclockwise while watching belt riding on the tensioner pulley. Image
If your tensioner assembly has some miles on it you will see it start to walk off the pulley. Turn crankshaft a total of six times if the belt doesn’t jump a groove on the crank pulley then you’re still OK to run. On an oem tensioner that’s in perfect shape the belt will stay squarely on the tensioner pulley. If it’s too badly worn it will climb a rib on the crank pulley before 6 turns.Image
The cheap tensioners can be used but will most likely have to be fitted for accuracy. You do this by the same test and if it fails you take it back off and file across mating surface at a very slight angle to square up how belt rides.Image
You can even do this on your existing unit if you can’t get a hold of a new one and your pulley bearing still feels smooth. This is all in an effort to keep your engine from having an over heat situation sneak up on you. When the belt comes off the only warning you get from inside the cockpit is a very small battery light that is very easily missed . That big yellow triangle of death does not light up like it does on your low tire. I wished it did.
Taking the tensioner off , it’s easiest to work from underneath. After you remove the belt , remove tensioner pulley. Now you can remove the two mounting bolts. The top bolt can be either be a 12mm hex or a 6mm Allen if it was involved in a campaign for replacement of the tensioner unit. If yours is a hex , use an offset 12mm
Box wrench from Harbor Freight .Image

If yours is an Allen, it’s best to cut a one inch long piece off your 6mm Allen wrench and put it into a 1/4 drive 6mm socket and ratchet.
Last edited by old tech on Fri Jul 17, 2020 4:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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SAEED_KIZZY
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thanks, old tech useful info as always.
last year I bought tensioner assembly (17540-54L00-000) from megazip around 150$(120$ plus 30$ shipping).it took 10 days to arrive.
strange thing is that all parts I bought so far is either made in Japan or China in some cases but this one made in USA :shock:
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SamirD
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Great info oldtech! Does a quick check of the belt tension help in determining an issue with the pulley or belt?
old tech
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SamirD wrote:Great info oldtech! Does a quick check of the belt tension help in determining an issue with the pulley or belt?

This check is for testing only tensioner. Visually inspect the belt and feel /listen the pulley bearing.
kelt69
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Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:56 am

My Kiz starting making an awful noise the other day when I started her up. Crawled under and I had the one rib jumped belt condition that you describe. I was hoping it was one of the idler pulleys so I bought them. haven't installed them yet but think it might be the tensioner after reading what you said. I have 90k miles on the car so sounds about right as to the cause.

The service manual says that the water pump must be removed to replace the tensioner pully assembly. Based on your post I'm guessing that I can fiddle it off without doing that. Right? Any hints other that using an offset 12mm box end or a section of 6mm hex/allen. How did you hold the old pully to remove the center bolt? I'm thinking a big pair of vice grips maybe? Or drill a hole in the side of the pully and insert a screw driver?

This is great news if I can avoid the water pump pull. I replaced it about a year ago. It's a royal pain.

Anyhow thanks for the insight. I'm gonna dig into it tomorrow and see how it goes.
old tech
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First , use pulley center bolt and wrench to back up spring tension and remove old belt. Next release tension an it has its own built in stop, no need to hold pulley, just remove center bolt then plastic pulley. There is a stopper the other direction you can utilize in tightening the center bolt after tensioner and belt are in place. You never have to remove water pump at least when dealing with original bolts and pump but its very close. Dont skip checking accuracy of tensioner by turning crank backward a few times to check if belt is running true.
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LPSISRL
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When you say "turning the crank backward a few times" does that mean you're rotating it in the opposite direction of how it normally turns with the engine running or do you simply mean counter-clockwise?
2011 Kizashi SLS CVT (silver)
2005 Honda Odyssey
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old tech
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The engine rotates clockwise while running. Counterclockwise is backwards. If you rotate the engine backwards, it becomes very apparent if the tensioner lever has wear. The belt will work it way off the tensioner pulley.
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LPSISRL
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Thanks. I had always heard that you should never turn an engine backward.
2011 Kizashi SLS CVT (silver)
2005 Honda Odyssey
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2009 Suzuki SX4 Cross AWD 5-speed Tech package (vapor metallic blue)
old tech
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Turning this 2.4 suzuki engine backwards is fine. It is a good and durable design. It has a chain tensioner that
mechanically ratchets up so it doesnt rely on oil pressure. The later vw 4 and 5cyl engines are ones that I would say never ever turn backwards.
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