Accessory belt tensioners kinda rusty

[Devin]

I bought an engine off of ebay a while ago and stripped it to it's shorts. The tensioners I had to unbolt because they don't tension anymore. The adjustment dealies won't budge a bit. I almost broke my allen wrench trying to move them. Is there any hope? They are completely seperated from my engine. I've tried bathing them in WD-40 and PB blaster with no luck.

Any ideas?

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Id try some heat. MAP gas works wonders on "frozen" metal. Just do not try to over torque things when trying to work it free, do it slow and easy.

But if it is rusty enough for PB blaster to not work, they may be simply too rusted.

 

[Mac]

I had the exact same problem with mine. First, take the pulley and tensioner off. You already soaked it in WD-40, so next apply heat. I used a propane torch. With a regular sized allen, you can't get enough torque, so use a socket extension. Get a vice grip pliers or adjustable wrench to hold the nut thing that the allen bolt goes through. Have someone heat it up while you turn it back and forth. Worked for me and mine was really rusted.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

sounds like an mtx motor, you do know that in order for those "allen wrench thingys" to move at all, you need to loosen the nut on the center of the pully first right? That takes the force off the tensioner so that it will move when you turn it.

 

[Devin]

Yes, it is an MTX.

It's pretty loose since it's off the motor.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

Yes, it is an MTX.

It's pretty loose since it's off the motor.

The tensioner assembly is off the motor, but is the pulley off the tensioner?

 

[ohfosho]

sometimes soaking in wd-40/pb blastr for a few days will yield good results

 

[khanartist]

Like others said, is the pulley center bolt loose? If not, you'll round the allen key bolt easy. Worst case, grab the vice grips.

Best method here, I've found is to get a tight grip on the bolt head and then use another set of channel locks to turn in the vice grips one more turn and they won't slip at all. My 2 cents.

 

[Xs SHO 1]

I modified that same tensioner bolt. I don't remember the size of the bolt I used but it fits right in the tensioner assembly, same lenght and pitch thread.

Instead of an allen head bolt, I used a panhead bolt. So I can use a ratchet w/extension and the proper metric size socket reaching from the top of the engine to tighten the rear tensioner as needed. Also, it is currently righty tighty and lefty loosey, its lefty tighty originally....

 

[Devin]

Sorry, I misunderstood. Yes the pulley bolt was loose. The heat trick did the job. I was able to heat it up with propane and it came loose right away. Now time to get them powdered.

Can I put something on the threads to keep them from seizing again?

 

[Stracey R]

Anti-seize or never seize, same thing.