Review on 🔩 Gates 38163 DriveAlign Auto Belt Tensioner by John Rivera

I drive a 2006 Jeep Wrangler with a 4.0L engine. I've driven 85,000 km and have already changed the V-ribbed belt. I've read that replacing the idler pulley and automatic belt tensioner is also recommended. Gates 38163 is almost identical to the original Chrysler/Mopar part. Here is my experience with the installation. Things you will need: * 1/2 "drive breaker * 3/8". ratchet wrench* 3/8 inch torx drive T40 bit* (optional) new small rubber bushing* (optional) thread sealant First it would be nice to take a picture of the serpentine belt and how it wraps around the motor and pulleys. Your cooler should have a belt routing diagram, but this label is often damaged. A picture is worth a thousand words. Depending on your tools, it may be easier to remove the fan shroud and fan clutch to keep them out of the way. I won't talk about it here. Insert the square portion of the tool into the square hole in the center of the tensioner arm. You rotate the crowbar to tension the lever spring and relieve the belt. Holding the hammer, carefully remove the belt from one of the pulleys, then gently release the lever. Remove the breaker. Tensioner arm (and V-ribbed belt) ready for removal. Fit a good quality T40 Torx bit to the ratchet and carefully remove the bolt holding the old tensioner to the motor. Be careful not to break the head when loosening the screw! You will reuse this bolt on a new belt tensioner. After loosening the old tensioner arm, do not remove the bolt from the tensioner arm yet. Look closely at the threaded side of your bolt - there should be a small rubber bushing (or "O-ring") on the threaded side of the bolt. Many online manuals do not mention this rubber ring! I'm not exactly sure what that rubber ring is for, but I suspect it's used to dampen vibrations between the tensioner arm and the motor and/or to hold the bolt in place. If this small rubber grommet is missing or damaged, you can use a small O-ring that is commonly used in plumbing fixtures such as kitchen and bathroom sinks. O-ring packs of various sizes are common and inexpensive. If you still have the original rubber bushing in good condition, carefully separate the rubber bushing from the screw. After separating you can now remove the screw from the clamping arm. After removal, examining my original belt tensioner, I was able to turn the pulley very freely by hand - ie there was not enough grease in the bearings to lubricate them. With the new pulley, the pulley turns easily by hand, but I couldn't turn it. That means the bearings on my new Gates belt tensioner are well lubricated for the job. Insert the screw into the new Gates tension arm. Lightly grease the small rubber ring and carefully insert it into the threaded end of the screw as far as it will go. You can apply thread sealant at this stage if you wish (I don't think it is necessary). Attach the new Gates tensioner arm to the motor, hand tighten the torx screw and then tighten with a ratchet. You don't have to put a lot of effort to tighten it, just tighten it to a reasonable degree. I found a few websites with torque specs but found it to be a lot tighter than the original so I didn't trust it. I recommend only tightening it to a reasonable amount that you can do with a single ratcheting hand. Don't put your weight on him! You never want a broken bolt stuck in your engine! Also, be careful not to tear off the torx head! Once your new Gates tensioner arm is bolted back on, reinstall the breaker and re-wrap the multi-ribbed belt around all the pulleys. You didn't forget to take a picture, did you? Look at the photo or diagram of the belt routing on the radiator. A note is that the ribbed side of the belt only slides over the ribbed pulleys and conversely the smooth side of the belt only slides over the smooth pulleys. Release the lever, remove the circuit breaker, inspect everything - done. If you have removed the T40 bolt or need a new belt routing decal, below are the parts available from your dealer: 6507743AA - T40 Belt Tensioner. Bolt53031700AB - 4.0L Belt Routing Diagram Decal. It's a lot easier than I thought. But do it right! I hope this review helps others! :-)