leaking belt tensioner

[madar]

If the oil is splattered all over the belt, maybe it won't make noise?

Yeah, good point. Of course, if that's happening it probably isn't fully charging the battery either.

 

[yrwei52]

We sure hope so. Strangely I never have to worry about these 3 traditional belts on my '98 Honda CR-V even until the timing belt replacement - that's at 115,000 miles. No expensive surpentine belt and tentioner!

Was that the recommended replacement interval of the timing belt on that Honda model?
EDIT: It seemed past due to me as most seem to be 60-100K miles.
Probably a wash in cost as timing belt replacements seem to never be cheap as water pump usually gets replaced as well.

For '98 Honda CR-V, the recommended TB replacement interval is 105K miles. Mine was past due for 10K miles but every related parts, timing belt, water pump, and tentioner looked they can go another 100K miles! I saw a Honda owner claimed the original timing belt in his '00 CR-V with 250K miles was still in great shape when he replaced the engine! That's the Honda quality many people believe!

Replacing timing belt on any I4 should be easy, but on a V6 that's a different story. I'm glad the timing belt is a thing of the past, except Honda's V6 of course!

 

[yrwei52]

Here's my tensioner at 17k miles on a 2016 Skyactiv 2.5 engine. View attachment 214665

Yeah, that tensioner is definitely toast! But with only 17K miles? That's not good! I don't think Mazda dealer would replace hoses and serpentine belt other than the leaky tensioner itself. Of course you can always demand it though.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I think those motors were interference motors. I would never push a timing belt replacement on something like that.

Vehicles from a different era though IMO... pretty basic compared to today. I'd frankly be surprised with all the electronics if anyone will be able to claim seamless & defect free 250-300K miles on a fully loaded vehicle from any manufacturer these days.

For '98 Honda CR-V, the recommended TB replacement interval is 105K miles. Mine was past due for 10K miles but every related parts, timing belt, water pump, and tentioner looked they can go another 100K miles! I saw a Honda owner claimed the original timing belt in his '00 CR-V with 250K miles was still in great shape when he replaced the engine! That's the Honda quality many people believe!

Replacing timing belt on any I4 should be easy, but on a V6 that's a different story. I'm glad the timing belt is a thing of the past, except Honda's V6 of course!

 

[madar]

For '98 Honda CR-V, the recommended TB replacement interval is 105K miles. Mine was past due for 10K miles but every related parts, timing belt, water pump, and tentioner looked they can go another 100K miles! I saw a Honda owner claimed the original timing belt in his '00 CR-V with 250K miles was still in great shape when he replaced the engine! That's the Honda quality many people believe!

Replacing timing belt on any I4 should be easy, but on a V6 that's a different story. I'm glad the timing belt is a thing of the past, except Honda's V6 of course!

I had an 88 Chevy Nova, which was actually an 87 Corolla (partnership between GM and Toyota at the time) which I replaced the timing belt quite a few times. Mileage interval was every 60k miles, the belt always looked in great shape when I pulled I it off like it could've gone an extra 20k miles. Sometimes I think the manufacturer just throws in a safety net of thousands of miles before change interval just to be on the safe side. Now my mom had an 80 Chevette, that sucker broke the timing belt at 45k, that was a surprise.

 

[courtneyc]

I'm not a fan of pressurized tensioners, my 06 and 07 Corollas had gas pressurized ones. I wish this thing had the old spring loaded one. This should have a least outlasted one belt. If you're changing one yourself, the service manual warns against mishandling the boot in case of causing a leak.

My CX-5 is the first car Ive had with a pressurized one, I am interested to see how long it lasts. My last car it was spring loaded but when my boyfriend went to change one of the seals he had to get creative because the thing would not budge even the slightest bit. The car had just about 70K on it. So the spring loaded ones can fail too. But my old car was a piece so I'm not surprised haha

 

[madar]

My CX-5 is the first car Ive had with a pressurized one, I am interested to see how long it lasts. My last car it was spring loaded but when my boyfriend went to change one of the seals he had to get creative because the thing would not budge even the slightest bit. The car had just about 70K on it. So the spring loaded ones can fail too. But my old car was a piece so I'm not surprised haha

Where did you buy your CX5?

 

[courtneyc]

Where did you buy your CX5?

I bought mine from this dealership but it was used with just over 22K on it http://www.paulmiller.com/

 

[yrwei52]

I had an 88 Chevy Nova, which was actually an 87 Corolla (partnership between GM and Toyota at the time) which I replaced the timing belt quite a few times. Mileage interval was every 60k miles, the belt always looked in great shape when I pulled I it off like it could've gone an extra 20k miles. Sometimes I think the manufacturer just throws in a safety net of thousands of miles before change interval just to be on the safe side. Now my mom had an 80 Chevette, that sucker broke the timing belt at 45k, that was a surprise.

That depends. Our 2001.5 VW Passat GLX 2.8L V6 has 105,000-mile TB replacement interval. But quite a few Passat's broke the TB as early as at 60K+ miles ruining the heads! Strangely some of the owners have a maintenance sticker in the engine bay warning replacing the timing belt at 60,000 miles! That unrealistic TB replacement interval by VW apparently is for marketing reason as at time many Japanese counterparts had increased TB replacement interval from 60,000 to 105,000 miles!

Most of time for VW, the timing belt failure is caused by sized water pump, or one of the two tensioners which breaks the teeth of the rubber timing belt.

 

[CX-5um]

Here's my tensioner at 17k miles on a 2016 Skyactiv 2.5 engine. View attachment 214665

Update:

So months after I identified the leak I finally found time to bring it into the dealership. Upon inspection they techs agreed it was leaking and they replaced both the tensioner and the belt under warranty that same appointment. They also found a leaking rear strut which was leaking and I'm set to have it replaced this Friday.

 

[yrwei52]

Update:

So months after I identified the leak I finally found time to bring it into the dealership. Upon inspection they techs agreed it was leaking and they replaced both the tensioner and the belt under warranty that same appointment. They also found a leaking rear strut which was leaking and I'm set to have it replaced this Friday.

It's nice your Mazda dealer proactively found a leaking rear strut! And they went ahead replaced the serpentine belt is a good guesture too! May be the the hot weather in AZ has something to do with these on your CX-5!

 

[CX-5um]

It's nice your Mazda dealer proactively found a leaking rear strut! And they went ahead replaced the serpentine belt is a good guesture too! May be the the hot weather in AZ has something to do with these on your CX-5!

I was told that by the dealership the tensioner may leak due to some type of defect inside of it. They called Mazda but weren't able to get an answer in terms of tolerances and what not. Like there's no way you can tell how much fluid was lost and if it could still operate as designed. The way I see it replacing it is cheaper than repairing the engine under warranty.

As for the strut man there's been heavy construction and potholes on my daily route. A big hit probably caused the leak to that one strut. Good news is the roads are new and smooth on my route now. Must be a small leak as its not noticeable in ride comfort. Nevertheless the strut is covered under warranty.

 

[yrwei52]

I was told that by the dealership the tensioner may leak due to some type of defect inside of it. They called Mazda but weren't able to get an answer in terms of tolerances and what not. Like there's no way you can tell how much fluid was lost and if it could still operate as designed. The way I see it replacing it is cheaper than repairing the engine under warranty.

As for the strut man there's been heavy construction and potholes on my daily route. A big hit probably caused the leak to that one strut. Good news is the roads are new and smooth on my route now. Must be a small leak as its not noticeable in ride comfort. Nevertheless the strut is covered under warranty.

I just remember you drive a Mazda6, not a CX-5. I believe your leaking belt tensioner on Mazda6 is from a batch of bad tensioners from supplier, just like those transmission problem on some 2016 CX-5 caused by a batch of inferior parts been put in the transmission.

 

[CX-5um]

I just remember you drive a Mazda6, not a CX-5. I believe your leaking belt tensioner on Mazda6 is from a batch of bad tensioners from supplier, just like those transmission problem on some 2016 CX-5 caused by a batch of inferior parts been put in the transmission.

Yeah recall the 2013 CX-5's tensioner at nearly 60k seems to be holding up. The CX-5 is simply a workhorse for us. The 2016 Mazda6 tensioner under 20k was leaking bad. Nevertheless one of the simplest things to inspect prior to the warranty expiring is this belt tensioner. Much props for this thread otherwise I would've spotted it much later and with a lighter wallet.

 

[craigo]

I was told that by the dealership the tensioner may leak due to some type of defect inside of it. They called Mazda but weren't able to get an answer in terms of tolerances and what not. Like there's no way you can tell how much fluid was lost and if it could still operate as designed. The way I see it replacing it is cheaper than repairing the engine under warranty.

As for the strut man there's been heavy construction and potholes on my daily route. A big hit probably caused the leak to that one strut. Good news is the roads are new and smooth on my route now. Must be a small leak as its not noticeable in ride comfort. Nevertheless the strut is covered under warranty.

My old 3 had all the struts replaced early, and I've had one done on the cx-5. I used to live in an area with traffic-calming 20 mph speed bumps, so every day I crossed over a dozen or more of them.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Sorry to thread necro, but I took my CX-5 into the shop today thinking I had overcharged the AC as I started getting a horrible squeal noise from the engine bay when the AC was on and I applied throttle. Turns out it's a rattling and leaking badly tensioner. 69k miles.

Only coincidence that it started doing that when I recharged my AC last week?

Anyway, is this hard to DIY, or should I take it in to get serviced? This shop (not dealer) quoted me a terrible price of $300+ to get it fixed and I am not keen on that.

 

[madar]

Sorry to thread necro, but I took my CX-5 into the shop today thinking I had overcharged the AC as I started getting a horrible squeal noise from the engine bay when the AC was on and I applied throttle. Turns out it's a rattling and leaking badly tensioner. 69k miles.

Only coincidence that it started doing that when I recharged my AC last week?

Anyway, is this hard to DIY, or should I take it in to get serviced? This shop (not dealer) quoted me a terrible price of $300+ to get it fixed and I am not keen on that.

Wow, my dealer was cheaper, maybe $200, don't remember- it was on my 14. But the new ones are revised versions.

Bill was under $230...had a discount coupon, but was quoted $256 as I said in an earlier post.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Wow, my dealer was cheaper, maybe $200, don't remember- it was on my 14. But the new ones are revised versions.

Bill was under $230...had a discount coupon, but was quoted $256 as I said in an earlier post.

I'm going to price around.

 

[Jmaz]

I just replaced my tensioner about 2 weeks ago.The dealer wanted 155$(incl tax) for the tensioner from their parts dept.Service dept said not warrantable at my time and mileage but they see them leak at around 40,000 miles or later.They quoted me at approx. 410-420 $ to replace it along with the water pump stretch belt and serpentine.

Needless to say not being happy with that bullsh*t,I got a tensioner online from Cox Mazda in Bradenton ,Fla.Price was 92 plus shipping for total of 112.00 delivered.It's tight in there to change it but only has one bolt and one nut at the top.To reach it I bought a cheap set of long combo wrenches at Harbor Freight for 20$ w/coupon.I needed the 17 mm to fit on the raised hex in the casting to apply pressure to release the belt tension.The 12 mm was needed to reach the top nut and center bolt.The nut and bolt were tight and I used a SK box end to loosen a little at first because the HF wrenches felt a little looser and no way did I want to strip either nut or bolt.The HF wrenches were used for the rest of the job and did a good job of tightening the nut and bolt without stripping.****NOTE*** The bolt is too long to be removed straight out from the tensioner and has to remain in the tensioner at removal.After brief cursing,I noticed that Mazda put a slot in the casting (for bolt clearance)so the tensioner can be slid forward before being lifted out.

It really wasn't a horrible job to do and would go a lot faster the second time around.Just takes patience and some long wrenches which are less apt to be dropped into the abyss below.Also, a telescoping magnet and flashlight did save my butt twice when I did drop a wrench.Did mine in a parking spot.Would be nicer to have alift and change from below. A long winded post but wanted to give details and save someone from getting raped on the job. Good luck, Jmaz


Additional notes: The HF wrench set is p/n 47067 (there's no doubt a few more for the same set depending upon their vendor) " 11pc metric long combo set"

I chose an oem mazda part for comfort sake vs aftermarket brand (rockauto had listed for cheaper price)I wouldn't buy this at AZ if they did in fact carry an aftermarket one.

At 29,000 miles my belts looked real good so they were reinstalled.Now I know how to change when needed.That serpentine is a really small.Dealer price is probably only 50 bux or more.GAG!

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

So doesn't fall under Powertrain warranty?

Thanks for info.. I'll be keeping an eye on mine. I've personally never had a vehicle where a belt tensioner failed.

I just replaced my tensioner about 2 weeks ago.The dealer wanted 155$(incl tax) for the tensioner from their parts dept.Service dept said not warrantable at my time and mileage but they see them leak at around 40,000 miles or later.They quoted me at approx. 410-420 $ to replace it along with the water pump stretch belt and serpentine.

Needless to say not being happy with that bullsh*t,I got a tensioner online from Cox Mazda in Bradenton ,Fla.Price was 92 plus shipping for total of 112.00 delivered.It's tight in there to change it but only has one bolt and one nut at the top.To reach it I bought a cheap set of long combo wrenches at Harbor Freight for 20$ w/coupon.I needed the 17 mm to fit on the raised hex in the casting to apply pressure to release the belt tension.The 12 mm was needed to reach the top nut and center bolt.The nut and bolt were tight and I used a SK box end to loosen a little at first because the HF wrenches felt a little looser and no way did I want to strip either nut or bolt.The HF wrenches were used for the rest of the job and did a good job of tightening the nut and bolt without stripping.****NOTE*** The bolt is too long to be removed straight out from the tensioner and has to remain in the tensioner at removal.After brief cursing,I noticed that Mazda put a slot in the casting (for bolt clearance)so the tensioner can be slid forward before being lifted out.

It really wasn't a horrible job to do and would go a lot faster the second time around.Just takes patience and some long wrenches which are less apt to be dropped into the abyss below.Also, a telescoping magnet and flashlight did save my butt twice when I did drop a wrench.Did mine in a parking spot.Would be nicer to have alift and change from below. A long winded post but wanted to give details and save someone from getting raped on the job. Good luck, Jmaz


Additional notes: The HF wrench set is p/n 47067 (there's no doubt a few more for the same set depending upon their vendor) " 11pc metric long combo set"

I chose an oem mazda part for comfort sake vs aftermarket brand (rockauto had listed for cheaper price)I wouldn't buy this at AZ if they did in fact carry an aftermarket one.

At 29,000 miles my belts looked real good so they were reinstalled.Now I know how to change when needed.That serpentine is a really small.Dealer price is probably only 50 bux or more.GAG!