I noticed a post about belt whine. I too have a really bad whine that seems to be getting worse. I cannot pin point where it is coming from. I have 160,000 miles on my F150 4.9l '94 and have never replaced the tensioner. What does replacing it entail? Is this a reverse thread nut? It looks to me like a simple matter of getting a socket/breaker bar on there and taking it off but I know there has to be more to this job that this. Any help, clues or ideas I would be appreciative!

 

I changed one on a '92 302. It was just as you said, a left hand thread. I just put the socket on it, and turned it to the left to take the belt off. Then the other way to remove the tensioner. Piece of cake. Not too expensive either. I got mine at a Ford dealer.

Good Luck

Frank

 

A little follow up and some questions: I work at a High School that has an excellent mechanics teacher. I swung my whining truck by his room this morning. The moment he looked at the engine he said the noise was a belt noise and that I ought to spray some belt dressing on the belt. I was sort of dubious of this but went ahead and bought the dressing and tried it out this afternoon. I gave two good squirts to the top and bottom of the belt as the engine was running. The squeel has abated for the moment so I hope this did the trick. Two odd things happened as I sprayed the belt dressing on the belt. First I noticed the tensioner descend at least 2-3 inches....like it was getting more purchase on the belt. This only happened once. The other odd thing was that the belt tried to ride up and off the power steering pump pulley as I sprayed the belt near that location. I had to turn the engine off and thumb the belt back into place lest it fly off. I was wondering what y'all made of the belt ride up and the descending tensioner? I have not replaced the tensioner as it appears to be working fine. I have a new belt on hand but I want to see if the dressing does the trick on the old belt as it is only about a year old or so. What do y'all think?

 

I had the same problem on my 90' 4.9L. I tried the belt dressing and the same thing happend. Only I didn't notive the belt slip, when I drove the truck the next time a pice was cut off along the whole belt. When I replaced the tensioner the noise stoped.

 

Thanks for the replys. I am headed up to Orlando for the big Lakeland gunshow this weekend. It is about a five hour drive each way from my place in Homestead. The proof will be in the pudding of that drive up and back. I am still thinking I ought to replace the tensioner but it is going to have to wait until I see how much cash I have left after this gunshow...gotta have your priorities in place! I let the engine cool down and tried to restart the engine. I still hear a little belt noise coming off the tensioner area but I will say that the AC fairly well BLASTS out of the vent now...what is that about? I have to drive up to Miami for work tomorrow morning so I will see if it makes the drive up. Again, thanks for th input and I will get back with my further observations.

 

The tensioner and the pulley can be replaced separately. The bearing on my pulley usually last 50K miles before it starts making a whining noise. A new pulley (with a new bearing) cost about $20.

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96 F-150 4.9L