Should I change the Tensioner bearings as well?

Guys, not sure if I should change out the Tensioner bearings along with the belts. The Belts and Tensioners were change about 3 years ago (june 07) and only 1500 miles ago. How much notice do the bearings give before they go...

Belts I'm not taking any chances with, I'll be doing the work my self so I guess I already know what the safe bet is.. just thinking that bearings don't age the same as belts do more a matter of wear/use.

 

I'd check them for sound and feel, if OK I'd leave them on. I agree that the belts are more sensitive to time than miles. The bearings are more mileage dependant. IMHO.

 

Always change them as a set. Some timing belt breakage cause by a bad tensioner bearing.
Don't take a chance, bearing may last as short as few weeks to as long as 15+ years.

 

so if he's got a good, known, working low mileage set on there now (3 years, 1500 miles), how does he know he won't be taking off good ones and installing new ones that might last only a few weeks?

 

Depends on what bearings are on there - if they are OEM then change them for Hill Engineering bearings (via Ricambi)

 

There's really no way of knowing unless something can be dectected upon close inspection.
However, there's higher percentage that a used bearing will go bad over a brand new one unless you get one of those factory defective bearing but very unlikely.

Personally, all I'm saying is I'll have a peace with a set of new bearing

 

If you're doing it yourself and you're going to invest the time to get to the belts and tensioners, why not just change out the bearings also. For $125 for new ones, you're going to end up pulling the old ones to clean the brackets and regrease the springs anyway, put it all back with new.

If you're having the service done at a shop, same argument, you're paying for all that labor, why not just go for another $125 to have new bearings put on.

Cheap insurance, no?

Phil

 

This is like asking should I change the throwout bearing with the clutch replacement?

 

Do you have the part number for the hill engineering bearings from Ricambi? I can't seem to locate them..

 

+100 I learned THAT lesson the hard way years ago in a Mercury Capri Lack of
changing a $5 part cost me another clutch job.

Jedi

 

Without getting into the 3 years thing - as long as you are replacing the belts why wouldn't you change the bearings? It's cheap insurance and remember that assuming you change the belts every 3 or 4 or 5 years the bearings will be that much older than the belts.

 

When I bought my car from the dealer, part of the agreed terms was that the car was to have the belts and tensioner bearings changed.

14 months later, a metallic sound started to appear on start up and lasted for about 10 minutes. Further investigation confirmed it was a bearing on one side.

I presumed the dealer stiffed me and only changed the belts. Anyway, I had all the belts and tensioners replaced and all was good again. 12 months later (last December) I went to the service center that did the work for the dealer originally and had it confirmed that the tensioners WERE replaced.

So....... as someone said earlier, these things can be a bit of a lottery but I strongly recommend you do get them changed together.

As you can see via the pic below, the left bearing was fine but the right one was the noisy one.

Cheers,

Bob.
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I was seeing prices of 130 a bearing on another site...

Ricambi America says they do not have the Hill engineering bearings, they are not out yet from Hill.

No matter what, I can't see skipping something like this.

 

Got mine here for $75 each:

http://www.awautoparts.us/product.asp?pid=85

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=138986532&postcount=8

 

Speaking of bearing, make sure you get the new and better design than the original one.
Notice on the pic the bearing on the left is the one I took off my car and the one on the right
is the new one I got from Ricambi and you can see the difference between the side wall thickness.
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The bearings (that I Installed in 2007) on this particular car are the ones on the right (blue-gray seal, thick sides) in the above post. I bought them, and the belts, from T. Rutlands.

 

I ordered these form Ricambi, they look like they are split however.

http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=224308
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Then buy them directly from Hills - £35 each (about $55)

http://www.hillengineering.co.uk/catalog/tensioner-bearings-c-9.html?osCsid=bded646f908663175399053be94d021e

They are the SKF alternative bearings. If Paul Hill says they are OK, then they are OK.

 

Those are the SKF's. They are split and are the best bearing available.

The Ferrari factory bearings are junk and anyone using them gets what they deserve.

 

French bearings in a Italian car, that is the problem

 

Okay, so like an extra hundred bucks for no worries and no more hand wringing?

I have read lots of posts here about how it wasn't the belts that caused the breakage -- it was something else (eg tension bearings, frozen air pump, etc.).

Seems like a easy decision. Another one of those "while you're in there" .

 

+1, Exactly right

 

Simple answer is yes change them. Penny wise pound foolish why would you do a major service without changing them?

 

True. The SKF we sell (and the ones I packed for you this afternoon) are sourced to us via Hill Engineering. I am supremely confident in Paul Hill's supply chain, so while it's not the greatest item on earth, we're making sure to avoid all the crappy replicas.

On the bright side, here's a glimpse of the future


http://www.ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=343571

(But don't tell anyone. We're still about 45 days out)

 

Hey thanks for taking the time the review the bearings and the removal and install issues to watch out for..

I've got the car stripped down awaiting the bearing and belts. I do have a few question regarding the belt tension as I found it, I took couple of little videos of belts that I'll post so users can comment on what they have found during the change overs. I may start a new thread or just keep this one running with the progress. Great the new bearings are going force me to want to pop those in there as well....