7.3L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 1999-Up Super Duty trucks and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 7.3L Power Stroke engine.
I've read on this forum about belt-tensioner bearings going out, but my tensioner failed by completely coming apart. I heard a chirping that sounded like it was coming from the AC compressor. However, it wasn't until I noticed (300 miles later!) that the serpentine belt was half on-half off the AC pulley that the tensioner body had separated, exposing the internal spring, and pushing the tensioner pulleys out about an inch. It's amazing it still worked at all, and I'm lucky I made it home. I'm now the proud owner of a new tensioner and idler pulley, and hopefully good for another 166K miles.
__________________
Early 99 F-250 4X4 Lariat SuperCab SB with 2002 Lance Model 821 camper; Rancho 9000 shocks, Firestone air bags, Hellwig front & rear sway bars, Mag-HyTec tranny pan, shift kit, Alpha bed liner, manual Warn hubs, Airaid intake, Walker BTM, HyperTech programmer, TruCool tranny cooler, 19.5" Rickson aluminum wheels, TruSpeed recalibrator, X-monitor, '03 headlights.
Wow. Glad you made it home. I've noticed on mine that the bolts holding the pulleys on can work loose. Sounds like yours just had a casting flaw from the factory. But hey, 166k miles ain't bad for something with a flaw from the factory!
__________________
'02 F-350 "Babe The Big Blue Truck" 4x4, Ext. Cab, 8' bed
DP-Tuner 80T, WW, DIY intake, openair CCV, 80HP 'pane shot, SBC DD all ceramic clutch, ISSPRO boost/pyro gauges, 4" lift, 255/70R22.5 tires, brake linelock, 16 flashy lights, 12 strobes, 12 switches on console, 9 switches on the dash, 7 two-way radios, 5 air horns, laptop, siren, 105 gal. in-bed fuel tank, and who knows what else... oh and a Kennesaw Mountain front bumper
'66 Bronco "Big Little Monster" - 5.0L EFI, AOD, D20, 3.5" WH sus. lift, 3" body lift, 35" BFG muds, Stock Dana 30 front with Lock-Rite, disk brakes, Warn Hubs, Stock Ford 9" rear with mini spool
Setting at a red light, the brake pedal went down a little, and when the light went green I pulled away, and had no brakes or power steering. Made it into a parking lot, and the upper smooth non-adjustable idler pulley and serpentine belt were gone. Went back and found the pulley on the ground. It uses a 6203 bearing. Can I just press a new bearing into the pulley?. The other two idler/tensioners spin freely - do I need to worry about those bearings? did you know a dually will just fit on a tilt back?
__________________
2000 F350 DRW LARIAT 4X4 AUTO
CREW CAB 150K MILES
DON'TSEE ANY EVIDENCE OF ANY UPGRADES
LAST ONE 1992 F250 XLT
Mine did the same thing. I first discovered my belt was shredding lengthwise. About 3 of the 8 grooves were gone and a long piece had been whipping around under my hood tearing up my hood sound insulation.
With 168k miles, I assumed the belt had just finally given out. No big deal, 168k was pretty good.
I bought a new belt (about $40 at Autozone) and put it on, but when I tried it the belt immediately ran off of the AC pulley. I tried a couple more times with the same result. It looked like the smooth wheel on the tensioner was not lined up.
As it turned out, I was able to pull the tensioner apart by hand. The tensioner is made up of two "cups" and a spring. The spring is enclosed in the cups, and one cup rotates around the other. I don't know what is supposed to hold the two cups together, but that is the part that failed on mine allowing the cups to separate and putting the wheels out of alignment.
Autozone had a new tensioner for about $65, but I went ahead and bought a new one from the Ford place for about $126. Put it on and now the belt is staying on.
On my early 99 I had the tensioner go bad, chirping and eating belts about every oil change for two changes. Looked at them (Both pulleys, Idler and tensioner) they spun freely, no noises ect....
After the second belt went bad, I took the tensioner off, to find it looked like Belt tensioner pictures from cars photos on webshots
compared to the new one. Replaced both pulleys then.
I thought you could embed photos on here?
I was also eating alternators on my 03 7.3L.... went through 5 in 6 months. Replaced the belt, and after the DB Electrical went bad, I replaced both the tensioner and idler. That was over a year ago, no bad alternators anymore.
__________________
Jim T.*48* SLAPS Co-Founder, 30.8 yrs RETIRED UAW 6/01/06, Now a full time Technician in the MOANG 12/10/07 My pics! and my New'03 Dually pics!, Charcoal Grey, Black and Grey interior, Black leather seats, Van Turbo/ATS ported housing/WW, Quad "A" pillar pod with Carbon Fiber series AUTO METER Gauges, FUMOTO Valve. BTS BUBBA" /TS 4pos chip, 4" Turbo back straight pipe/stainless 5" tip 131st F/W St.Louis MoAirNatlGuard We're losing the F-15s. BUT BEING HANDED THE KEYS TO THE B-2 BOMBERS at WHITMAN AFB, Near Kansas City, MO.!! We are Lindburghs OWN! Suffering from *PMS,, "Powerstroke mod syndrome"
AutoForums.com is the premier network of enthusiast-owned
enthusiast-operated automotive communities.
We operate more than 100 automotive forums where our users consult peers for shopping information and advice, and share
experiences and opinions as a community.
Linear Mode
