HELP - idler pulley has a mind of its own

Nathan Wallace

New Member
Help! This problem is killing me.
2003 lancer CS6A ES CH 2.0 4G94

My car has bad belt squeal.
This has been going on for a couple of years now. I replaced the belts, was ok for a while.
Then I found belt material building up around the alternator, replaced that, was good for a couple months. It has come back, and I have just replaced the ider pulley. Now it is worse!
I am just about 100% sure now it is idler pulley misalignment.
So here is my problem.....HOW THE HELL do you put tension on the pulley, with out the tension bolt torquing to the right!?!?
Looks almost like bad design. Surely this is a big problem, and there is a simple fix or “kit” for it?

Maybe the bolts bent......hhmmm...
 

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This is a known issue - it’s a terrible design. The only thing i can say to do is just keep trying to thread that tensioner in dead straight. There’s a trick, I cant remember cause its been so long. Try googling on the usa forums, you might just find the help you’re after.

@wagonmaster might know?
 
This is a known issue - it’s a terrible design. The only thing i can say to do is just keep trying to thread that tensioner in dead straight. There’s a trick, I cant remember cause its been so long. Try googling on the usa forums, you might just find the help you’re after.

@wagonmaster might know?

Thanks mate, so I am not only the only one. That's slightly comforting LOL
There has to be a way to jam the bolt to the left so it cannot move, and get be tightened up, even though it wants to move.
 
I’ll check with a mate, he might have come across this before, Don’t take this as gospel as I would have to check with a mate to see if it was a ch Lancer his friend was talking about but (I seem to remember someone was taking about a similar problem, they said they used a heavy duty spring washer and thick high tensile steel washer (washer was serrated with a file on one side that went towards bracket side to prevent slipping, he may have scored bracket side as well can’t remember), I think the theory was the spring washers holds the tension and bolt in place while it was being done up at the same time the modified spring washer stops it slipping) like I said not sure if my mates friend was talking about ch or not, but it seems feasible !
Sounds a bit rough but maybe you could hold tension on pulley idler somehow as well will a large wrecking bar as bolt is being tensioned with above mod if everything else fails, maybe worth a shot.

My Ch and daughters Ch wagons don’t have that problem [yet] touch wood

If it was a simple matter of looking for possible pulley misalignment or belt slippage then a water squirt bottle and a laser alignment tool or Laser pulley/ chain alignment tool would be best answer, but in this case it’s the design of the bracket.

I have some detailed parts and design sheets and exploded views, I’ll check if I can find something on it, but at the moment, that’s all I’ve got
 
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