markh28

2002 Taurus 3.0L OHV

Changing the idler pulley I thought was making noise. Removed the belt, changed the pulley OK. Put the belt back on the wrong way. Once I figured out that the belt was on wrong, put my 15mm wrench on the tensioner bolt and it just kept turning and turning...so I am assuming its stripped. (By stripped I mean the threads on the pulley bolt, not the actual bolt head.)

I ordered the tensioner itself. (not just the pulley but the whole tensioner).

Any guidance on how to get this thing off and on? Any special tools I might need? I cant hardly get my hands in there.

As a side note, the tensioner was extremely difficult to turn and release pressure off the belt. Im a pretty strong guy and could not do it with a regular wrench...I had to make a cheater bar.

Any info is appreciated.

Sterling_Six

Hello and good day:

Are you trying to take off the Tensioner, and Replace It??

If so I would strongly suggest that you go and get a Chilton's and a Haynes manual.

Your first step is to remove the washer tank....then the serpentine belt. I usually do this by inserting a pry bar into the tensioner casting and pushing down or forward to relieve tension on the belt.
Once the belt is removed , simply remove the center bolt from the tensioner housing... the tensioner will come right off.

But you state the Bolt Just Turns freely??

__________________
Good Luck and good repairing Sterling_6
"You know, just like in that Book, When Jesus beats up Moses to get Religion!!"

markh28

The Chiltons manual I have says to relieve tension on the belt put a 15mm wrench on the tensioner pulley and turn clockwise. I did this and removed the belt. I then changed the suspected bad pulley (idler).

Then I realized I put the belt on wrong. I went to relieve tension on the belt again but the pulley bolt kept turning and turning clockwise and wasnt relieving the belt tension. So I knew I stripped it.

Since the pulley is attached to the tensioner housing, I figured I needed to replace the entire tensioner with the stripped out pulley bolt.

Am I thinking correctly here? Any advice on this?

jwko

I agree, you're going to need to replace the tensioner assembly. If you'll remove the coolant recovery tank, it will make the job a whole lot easier.