Jeep KJ Liberty -Gates Tensioner and Belt !

[tommudd]

I'm a moderator on another forum, and we have a longtime member who owned an airport shuttle service that ran lots of miles. One of his vans ran 430,000 miles on a Dayco belt.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1376312-2006-high-mile-spark-plugs-and-belt.html

After reading that a few years ago, I no longer worry much about the belt. I'm far from the oldest guy in the room at 33, but I've never shredded one before. I keep an eye on them, but rarely change them out. I've never changed a tensioner.

I've seen quite a few tensioners and/or belts go stranding people on the road. .
I change both on a regular schedule on all of my vehicles and always have
Take a chance and find yourself sitting alongside the road at 3:00 AM

You've just been lucky.................................................................

 

[TomB985]

I've seen quite a few tensioners and/or belts go stranding people on the road. .
I change both on a regular schedule on all of my vehicles and always have
Take a chance and find yourself sitting alongside the road at 3:00 AM

You've just been lucky.................................................................

Maybe, but there are a LOT of things that can leave you stranded. I lost a brake line once, and a radiator another time. Should I change all the brake lines and radiators at certain intervals as well?

Of course opinions are like ********, and this is just my two cents. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong and lose my belt tomorrow. :shrug:

 

[tommudd]

I can not count on two hands the number of times I have had to go rescue someone due to a belt breaking, would take fingers and toes !
People think they last forever LOL
Brake lines , one time in last 48 years and it broke due to stupidity
Radiator never , used to be able to do a few things to get them home
Brake line bend it over and crimp it and go on home slowly
Large car ( Peterbilt etc a dime will work )
There are all kinds of fixes, but belt goes, you're done pretty much unless her bra is big enough

I've even had to run spare chain to a buddy for his Harley when his wife showed up with out him at 4 AM, forgot his repair link on the 1948

 

[LibertyTC]

As belt was a bit kinked, like cardboard, time to warm, & for ease of installation as 5c outside.
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Time to inspect all pulleys. No play in any but...the ALT pulley needed attention.
I should possibly consider a new ALT pulley, or next time I replace the belt.
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A bit of canned compressed air and grooves cleaning, leaves them all in clean condition.
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Belt went in easy, thanks to it warm.
The Continental belt fit into grooves very easily & alignment perfect, after making a slight inward adjustment at water pump.
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It now has had it first run in for 20 minutes, with A/C on, and no flutter, super tight.
Oh & here is the belt routing that might help others, just to confirm the unique routing.
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Quite pleased to have a new belt again, & it is very quiet.
The used Gates belt now sits as a spare, under rear seat!
(Cheers)

 

[LibertyTC]

Decided to pull the belt off to do some more sanding, due to surface rust on the Alt Pulley.
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Hopefully this eliminates any rough edges, & to prevent side belt wear.
Going to let paint dry 3 days, before re-installing the belt.

 

[Aceofspades]

Any modern belts will last a very long time and are reliable, otherwise we would be seeing them broken everywhere, all over the road !
The belts should typically be good for up to 60 k + miles, I normally just replace the belts every 4 to 5 years, a fresh belt is a good reliable belt!
Inspecting for wear & pulley alignment is only part of the big picture, here is a good read: Serpentine Belt Wear – Ten Tips on When and How To Replace

The new Continental Elite arrived today and anyone who has utilized a GY Gatorback before will immediately notice the similarity:
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It's new, it's beefy & it is an EPDM quality link: Poly-V® Belts - Elite Aftermarket
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I will get it installed hopefully by the weekend, with more review /information to follow..

That’s awesome. I’m going to see if they have my sizes in the 8 rib style for my sc’d set up

 

[Aceofspades]

I can not count on two hands the number of times I have had to go rescue someone due to a belt breaking, would take fingers and toes !
People think they last forever LOL
Brake lines , one time in last 48 years and it broke due to stupidity
Radiator never , used to be able to do a few things to get them home
Brake line bend it over and crimp it and go on home slowly
Large car ( Peterbilt etc a dime will work )
There are all kinds of fixes, but belt goes, you're done pretty much unless her bra is big enough

I've even had to run spare chain to a buddy for his Harley when his wife showed up with out him at 4 AM, forgot his repair link on the 1948

My worst vehicle was my 99 Eclipse. Had 2 belts. The one for the power steering loves to shred. Cruising the highway and catch a downshift - you hear it start slapping the hood. Next exit is all city driving. Forearms go numb. Started carrying a spare belt in the back.
Radiator also spontaneously blew out. It was the top plastic spout that went from the rad to the upper engine. My therory is people including myself , leaned on it a few times while wrenching and it formed small cracks.
When it let go, it dumped all lymcoolant onto the header directly in front of it. Caused a whiteout on that stretch of road.
Lastly the only thing I couldn’t fix on the road was a fuel pump. Shut off on a backroad. Locked solid. 78k original miles.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

As belt was a bit kinked, like cardboard, time to warm, & for ease of installation as 5c outside.
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Time to inspect all pulleys. No play in any but...the ALT pulley needed attention.
I should possibly consider a new ALT pulley, or next time I replace the belt.
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A bit of canned compressed air and grooves cleaning, leaves them all in clean condition.
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Belt went in easy, thanks to it warm.
The Continental belt fit into grooves very easily & alignment perfect, after making a slight inward adjustment at water pump.
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It now has had it first run in for 20 minutes, with A/C on, and no flutter, super tight.
Oh & here is the belt routing that might help others, just to confirm the unique routing.
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Quite pleased to have a new belt again, & it is very quiet.
The used Gates belt now sits as a spare, under rear seat!
(Cheers)

Did you swap tensioners? Which pulleys do you have?

 

[LibertyTC]

Did you swap tensioners? Which pulleys do you have?

Ya get ready for this next situation there HJ.. Tensioner was Gates 2X 76 mm pulleys..
SO ..ya I have had the belt on/off a few times in the last week with the Continental/gator back running and in the recent 500 miles hwy run..problems developed.
There was some play in the ribbed tensioner pulley now introducing a slight wobble there.
Also the belt was now flopping around a bit, as if the tensioner spring was weak. You could see the tensioner making 4 mm adjustments now while running, and it wasn't do the job well anymore.
The casing of the Gates is not the quality of the Mopar tensioner.
If you are using the gates go easy on it when you first install it, do not over tighten it, as the can seems weak & you cant tell when to stop turning the bolt in.
Also with the gates go easy on how much pressure you put into applying to remove the old belt & always back it off slowly.
Here is a read on what happened to the Gates.
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I ordered a new Mopar one from dealer. Part# is in photo & it is a 2 X 76mm.
My recommendation is when you install a new belt just get a new tensioner assembly @ the same time.
New Mopar installed easily & it was obvious when the bolt was seated properly.
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Even though I am still using the New Continental/gator belt now with the Mopar Tensioner, I still wonder if I should just use the straight ribbed belt from Gates.
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Oh & re pulley sizes, the smooth/idler pulley outer diameter is aprox 76mm. The ribbed pulley is larger as far as the outer diameter, but you have to measure to the interior dimension, to where the ribs are below, and then it would be close to also 76 mm.
I asked the dealer for exact specifications none found, but I assume they are both 76mm and one Mopar tensioner only exist for the KJ period.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I thought Dayco made the Mopar one. Interesting stuff.

The KL Cherokee had its tensioner fail at about 25k miles...LOL. Seems like all this serpentine belt stuff is the same (poor) quality...LOL

 

[LibertyTC]

Yup & the Jeep is not happy with the Continental/Gatorback.
After 30 miles and everything heating up well, A very slight wobble appeared in the ribbed tensioner pulley using the Continental.
The bearing is tight as as a drum and the tension is fantastic, so where is this coming from you ask..?
Answer..the pulley is hard plastic and it's flexing a bit, even with your finger grabbing it.
Ok then, lets find a matching steel ribbed tensioner pulley to swap into the new Mopar tensioner shall we !

Well I guess Chrysler designed this pulley system to have a completely ribbed belt.
So..I now have swapped in the Gates straight ribbed belt and...it likes it again.
Use the Gates or someone please try out the Mopar belt with review, leave the Continental alone.
PS it was good practice! I can now replace the belt at night with one small flashlight, & one eye closed now! :Insane:
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[HoosierJeeper]

Did you get a new Gates belt?

 

[LibertyTC]

I used the older Gates one to test, a new one is on order, will be in on Tues to install.

 

[LibertyTC]

Metric or Standard? kopkrab.gif Then you wonder why tech specs get mixed up !
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:cheers:

 

[LibertyTC]

Mopar Tensioner VS Gates Compared

Finally got a minute to do the comparison showing the rear of the Mopar & Gates Tensioners.
Look at Mopar ARM design...Quite the differences overall in quality.
Should be noted that the Mopar tensioner reacts quickly when engaging A/C & when revving the engine, to keep the belt as tight as possible.
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Mopar wholesale price is currently $42.29 the diagram sure does not do the Mopar tensioner justice, they should include some real photos!
link: https://www.moparwholesaleparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-tensioner-53030958ag

 

[ltd02]

Geez that is quite a difference. I don't think I looked carefully at mine when I changed it last time. I put the Gates 38167 tensioner on and stuck the OE Mopar tensioner and belt in the back as a spare. The OE seemed to be working fine but figured 13 years was long enough even with only 65k. I had bought the 38167 for my 02 as a spare in May of 2014 so thought what the heck. I had to go up to the longer Gates belt since its the 76/90 with the metal smooth pulley but seems to be tight and true.

 

[LibertyTC]

Edit: I found my old Mopar tensioner this AM. Photo below tells the story about the old tensioner.
ltd02,I wonder if your stamped part number ends in A0 instead of the AG of the current model.
Changes mainly from what I can see, were to the pulleys etc.
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Interesting to note that upgrading the part number included hand engraving & can be seen in the A0 & the AG on tensioner.
Still doing it the same way 14 years later.....
Next, I want to remove the bolts from the old pulleys & possibly discover what bearings are used !

 

[ltd02]

Too dark tonight, so tomorrow AM I'll see if I can find my OE 05 tensioner amongst the pile of tools and stuff in the back of my KJ. I know its there somewhere. I definitely didn't do much of a comparison when I did the swap last year.

 

[tommudd]

I have a box of 8-10 tensioners in the lower garage
Now you have me wondering what they look like, all are older MOPAR ones

 

[LibertyTC]

IDK how much torque they applied to those bolts holding the pulleys on...
Going to have to mount it in a vice at the shop, & use an air impact to get them free..eek..
HJ thought they were Daystar... look what appears after cleaning on the old & new Mopar's !
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Even though they are marked Dayco, what difference are there? Unknown unless you had them side by side.
From what I've seen from Dayco tensioner is that the pulleys are a bit different again from that of the AG Mopar's.
Dang how many pulleys do they have? The correct answer is tons of them !
Need to find formulated glass filled polymer (plastic) pulleys or yes even metal pulleys?
Check this out Dayco link: http://www.daycoproducts.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/17/f63f2a9acd46a2fa5140ade7b2423f73/files/dimensional_pulley_guide.pdf