Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Ford Belt Tension Pulley

My belt tensioner pulley on my Navistar 7.3 liter diesel has broken once a year for the last three years. It has a fairly weak aluminum case.

Anybody else having this problem?
How do you get/find/buy a more robust part that won't break every year?

lOOK ON THIS SITE FOR YOUR ANSWERS:
www.F150ONLINE.COM

Thanks for the link. I have not found my answer yet but that is a start. Where can you find about ford recalls? I have heard of others having probs with this part. It is real dissappointing to have it go out in traffic, once a year.

www.thedieselstop.com there are some really knowledgable guys on the forums over there...and I think every imaginable thing a Ford can do, can be fixed. I learned of a different style of tensioner available for my powerstroke from them, and it's great

Have you tried talking to the guys at the parts department at the local dealership. There is usually at least one guy there who knows what he's talking about and will know if there's a recall or a better, redesigned tensioner.

Accraholic:
Thanks for the link. Here is one a guy at work gave me for looking up safety recalls and service bulletins for all makes and brands. REAL helpful:

http://www.alldata.com/

LSU;
Well, I went to three dealerships yesterday trying to do exactly what you suggested but with little success. BUT the guys at the off road custom shop pointed me to the Navistar authorized repair and I went there, Grimes in Frederick MD. They showed me the Navistar belt tension pulley they had on the box, THEN, I went directly to Ford again and looked carefully at theirs, nib. The Navistar was a LOT beefier than the Ford. Later I met a diesel guy who works on the big rigs and he told me they only buy ford parts from Grimes and never from Ford because Ford pawns off second rate parts as factory originals at top dollar, WHICH-- seems to be exactly what has been happening to me. I also found a recall on the all.data.com website that pertains to belt alignment. So thanks very much one and all for the help.

Next time TOYOTA! I learned my lesson. I am kinda pissed at Ford right now, considering how dangerous it is for that belt tensioner to break while in traffic. God Forbid, it should break on the highway at 65 mph and you lose power steering without warning.

I used to be a big Ford fan, but what I saw really educated me. AND they denied there were any recalls on my truck but all.data.com listed about 7 safety recalls and 7 or more general recalls. Ford either was stupid or stonewalled me.