Anyone know if the belt tensioners need to be replaced at about 55k? I am not sure if the noise I am hearing from the front of the engine near the tensioner is the tensioner or the belt itself. Makes a slapping sound. Going to replace the belt but was wondering if anyone has had to replace the tensioner too. A friend said that the noise could be a flat spot in the belt after sitting in the cold and the fact that the belt is 4 years old, not much mileage on it, just time.

Now to figure out the correct wrench size to use. Is the Ram all metric? Anyone know?


thanks

 

Ram is metric.
Tensioner is your call, how much free cash do you have? I'd replace it myself if it was even slightly suspect and I was doing the belt anyway.
What are we talking $30? I drink twice that every week in beer alone!

 

I just replaced the tesioner puller in my truck and the belt...costed me about 180.00. Cheaper than a new engine though.

 

I just did a water pump on my 97 ram, if I remember right the Tensioner was a 15mm.

 

Mine was making hell of a squeal, but it just turned out to be the belt. Try that first.

 

I had to have my belt and tensioner replaced at a little over 51k miles on my '99. The tensioner had locked up and was pretty much useless.