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- Plano, Texas, USA
Here is my take on this leaky belt tensioner issue. I’ll wait a bit until Mazda finally stabilized their part supply with consist part number and serial number on the tensioner. Besides, it’s too cold now to work on cars replacing the leaky tensioner.Actually it didn't take more than a couple of seconds to come up with my take on this. I'm a dedicated DIYer too, and have no problem letting stuff go, when I don't see a big rush. I watched a motor mount leak for quite a few months on my daughter's 3i a few years ago, before finally getting around to swapping it out.
And you may be correct that it will never turn into an active drip onto the belt - no idea if it can or cannot do that. However, I'll stand by my opinion that a pro should advise the owner that it's a possibility (unless he know for certain it's not), and recommend replacing the part.
But you're certainly entitled to your opinion, and there's definitely room for more than one point of view on this.
I like to use leaky shock absorber as the analogy. If we see a leaky shock absorber do we want to replace it (a pair)? We can keep using the leaky shock without issues just like the belt tensioner. But the risk is there and most would want to replace it soon. A leaky belt tensioner although may not cause any immediate problem, but it will shorten the lifespan of serpentine belt due to the weaker damping function. It’s a problem, to me and to Mazda too or they wouldn’t issue a TSB and modify the tensioner damper.