The Belt Tensioner is a necessary holding device on the belt and chain transmission system, which can be divided into four main parts, including base, tensioner arm, spring, and pulley. Almost all belt tensioners look the same in bigger or smaller sizes. This truck engine part can keep the belt and chain with enough tensioning force during the transmission process, so as to avoid the occurrence of belt slippage, jumping teeth, losing teeth, and dragging out. What’s more, a belt tensioner in good status can also prevent the chain from loosening and falling, which can reduce the worn degree of the sprocket and chain.
There are various structures in the truck belt tensioner, such as the fixed structure and elastic auto-adjustment structure. The fixed adjustable sprocket is usually adopted for the fixed structure in order to adjust the tension of the belt and sprocket, while elastic parts that can automatically rebound to control the tension of the belt and chain are mostly adopted for the structure of the elastic auto-adjustment.
According to the information above, installing a proper belt tensioner on your engine can effectively tighten the serpentine belt. If the belt is not tight enough, it won’t be able to generate ample power to run the accessories like AC compressor, Alternator, Power steering, etc.
Belt tensioners can work longer than serpentine belts. Nevertheless, they can’t run in a good condition all the time. Once there is something wrong with the belt tensioner, the breakdown process of the belt will accelerate enormously. In this circumstance, the belt should be replaced with a new one, or else the truck engine may suddenly fail to run.
