Is replacing the belt tentioner on a 98 windstar 3.8 litre a bad job or a deffinite job for the garage for most people.?






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If you paws will fit in there, should be cut and dry. Are you replacing the pulley or the pulley and tensioner?

 

I think its the belt tentioner pulley or top pulley just because of sound but sometimes sound can fool you too. anyway its the cheapest and easiest to fix for starters ,i presume.its been making this mettalic sound for quite a while and my wife is ready to kill me so i guess id better do something even if its wrong.


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Could be the cam synchronizer on the front/top of the block..They fail fairly often and will make a high pitch 'chirp'.. Take the belt off and start the engine, if the noise is still there it's not the belt tensioner..

 

I also need to have the alternator rebuilt or replace it ,cause it is wining alot but i know what it sounds like when it needs replaced because ive done it several times before. the noise we"re hearing isnt the alternator although its tough to deciper.my wife could pick out a pebble hitting a roof in a hailstorm.


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I took off the belt last night and the noise was still there and even louder when in gear. should the service engine soon light be on?,because it isnt. is this a do it yourself job or pretty much pro job. ive seen some writeups on this about a plastic tool and so finding top dead center if you replace the whole thing. Ill be honest,ive never done anything like this .


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I took off the belt tonight and the noise was still there .even louder when in gear. is that a do it yourself job? i think i found the cam sensor


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The noise comes from the cam 'synchronizer' which looks like a short distributor .. The cam sensor (CMP) sits on top of the synchronizer.. Use a long extension, screw driver ect. as a listening device and place it against the sychronizer body and the other end up against your ear.. Generally the noise will be 'very' noticeable with the sound transfer.. The cam sychronizer is timed 'and' position sensitive, but you can swap it out as long as you scribe the block and the synchronizer body position, as well as the shaft/CMP end in relation to it's rotational position, then make sure the new one is installed in the exact same position noting/transfering all the scibed marks with the install..

Here's what the cam sychronizer looks like..

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how do you know if it is the belt tentioner or not? i took the belt off and the pulley was real free. it doesnt seem to wiggle around much either. straight in line. if the belt tentioner is changed is there any alignment or anything to it? i noticed some marks like timing marks,or etc. id appreciatte any help


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