Does anyone have experience in finding the causes of tensioner failure?
My tensioner failed after 20,000 miles. The water pump had a little play, so I replaced it. The alternator pulley was 2 mm out of line so I bought the latest pulley and placed a spacer behind it to bring it in line. Both of these devices have a rotational error of .1mm. and no play.
The power steering pump shaft has an error of appx. .1mm and tends to bind a bit after 3or 4 turns, then it becomes free again. The pump was rebuilt 20,000mi ago. Bearing and all seals were replaced This is a two stage hydraulic pump which serves both the steering system and the hydraulic blocking (which is not active).
The a/c clutch was rebuilt 20,000 miles ago and does not have any rotational error but does have a slight amount of play. I have not measure it yet.
Incidentally I am using Hylomar blue as the sealant on the water pump. You can seperate the unit without destroying the seal. It does howerver cost $28.50 per 3.5 oz.. It is OE in the rebuilding process of MB.
I chose to buy a new (non rebuilt) water pump instead of MB's rebuilt units.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
Constantine