Not counting my own, I know of at least three new pulley tensioners that have failed with less than a thousand miles on them.

It appears to be the rubber sleeve where it articulates.

My first MCS's tensioner went for over 90,000 miles.

With only 17,000 miles on my '06, I'm on my third tensioner. This is with a JCW belt, 15% pulley, and the OEM crank pulley.

Surely it's not isolated to four guys in Atlanta (all of whom used different installers and pulleys). I'm wondering if the rubber composition is a new, softer compound, perhaps unbeknownst to MINI/BMW.

Frankly, it's hard to know why they don't use Delrin or something more permanent.

You can see the rubber bushing as it starts to back out of the tensioner bearing. It looks more like a grommet.

This time it was Waylen, of Way Motor Works who noticed it while we were just chatting.

It'll gradually become looser and looser until the tensioner has way too much play. As this happens, it begans to make a vibrating, rattling noise.

I'm installing the tensioner goodies from GTT, but they don't include the actual tensioner, nor a different bushing.

We'll keep an eye it and see if it happens again. As loose as the rubber bushing already is in the new tensioner, I'm betting it won't last long, either.

Got a spare belt with you?

 

I will check mine tonight when I get home. Mine doesn't rattle, but when you start off on a hill at low revs the belt will make a loud "chirp". I have the 15% with the short belt. Maybe something is in the water here. Oh, my car is an 06 as well.

 

Just had my tensioner replaced as well. Lil rubber doohicky like mentioned before. Good thing its not ment to prevent pregnancy.

 

Amen.

 

same thing happened to me a few years ago. I assumed it was due to snaping a few belts and the tensioner flapping around. When the tensioner rubber bushings wore out the belt was being sent to the supercharger off a few ribs. It was fine on the street but on the track the belt would slip and eventually break. the tensioner got replaced under warranty.

 

Kind of a resurrection but I've been hearing a rattling lately in the general area of the tensioner. It's slowly been getting worse and last night, I think I felt the belt slip a little bit while accelerating up a slight incline at around 3.5k-4k. I haven't yet fished my hand down in there to see if anything is loose but I will tonight probably.

If it is loose, how easy is it to replace? Stealership job? Think they'll cover it under warranty with a 17% pulley installed?

 

well well well, last weekend at the track I blew a belt. Not a big deal, it happens and i'm well prepared. As i stated in a previous post there were metal bits in the crank pulley??? Odd i thought. I cleaned out the crank pulley and put on a new belt and it was back to my next track session.

I noticed that the tentioner pulley had a nice bounce to it later that week. I've seen that before and it didn't end up pretty. Today i'm down in SC where my engine just got rebuilt and asked my buddy (Chad) to see what he thought about the bounce. He used his flashlight to show me that yet agian.... my rubber damper bushing was wrecked and I needed to replace my tensioner assembly. This will be my third but hey, i'm on my third engine so why not. He pulled the old assembley off and I was amazed to see the damage caused by the arm hitting the crank pulley. I'll post pics later. Glad it got done today instead of at the track next weekend.

 

What is the best way to check if the tensioner is going bad? What should be loose? The arm that sits atop the supercharger pulley? Something else? Where is the rubber bushing that you are talking about?

I should probably just drop it off at the dealership and let them sort it out. We'll see.

 

Mine on my JCW went out a couble of weeks ago. I replaced both tensioner and idler pullys with the GTT units along with a Detroit Tuned tensioner stop so that if the belt goes it wont hit the crank pully. getting ready for a couple of long road trips in the next couple of weeks. Now if Alta can only get me a crank pully that fits...

 

the way to check is to look at the bottom of the Damper. if the bolt is bouncing around and the damper is not moving it's bad. There is a big rubber fitting that the bolt goes through at the end of the damper. when that rubber is worn out for whatever reason (blowing a belt) it can't hold the damper still or let it do it's dampening job. This will lead to belts jumping of of pulley and gives you a general weary not fun driving experience.

 

I did it again. I was at the track this past thursday and friday. broke a belt and the damper has squished the rubber bushing out of it's spot. my belt is yet again off the S/C pulley one notch. I guess i need to get a stop strap or belt now... and of course a new tentioner. Hey, this one made it almost two months, almost.

 

This sounds very similar to what I've been dealing with since swapping the pulley on my '05. Do you happen to have pics of the bushing coming out?

 

you can't really see the damage until you take out the whole tensioner.

What you're looking for is the rubber to be squished out of the metal collar that is holding it. Look for the damper (little shock absorber like the one that holds the boot up) right under the tentioner spring. I'll have mine out later this week and i can get a few pics.

 

I appreciate the effort. I'm hoping to get my car back from teh dealer today or tomorrow, since the SC had to be replaced. Man, that leads to a sinking feeling in the stomache.

 

I checked my tensioner today and it looks like the bushing is gone. And of course I have that rattling noise at idle but it goes away as soon as the revs come up.

Does the damper (shock looking thing) just unbolt or is it part of the whole tensioner set up?

Guess I need to order a new bushing...

 

We have the powerflex tensioner bushings.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/powerfl...e-bushing.html

Otherwise the shock only comes with the complete tensioner.

 

I just upgraded to the powerflex tensioner bushings and tensioner stop.

Better safe than sorry i figure especially if you push the car hard often enough. I also did the upper motor mount and replaced the stock unit with the TSW (or now WMW..) motor mount.

This is all at only 14k miles.

On my last mini my upper mount failed @ 10k miles.

As soon as i saw there were better tensioner bushings available than the stock ones, i knew that was a 'must do' item.

 

The Powerflex bushings for the tensioner shock absorber are CRAP! See the post further down 'Tensioner rattle temporary fix'.

 

That thread "Tensioner rattle temporary fix" was by me. I've spoken with Powerflex and Way from WMW about this issue. Aparently they had a bad batch of material that had failed. From what I've read, it seems they have corrected this problem. I'm sure their new bushings are fine. I have Other Powerflex bushings in my car and they are great.

 

Ok....replaced the missing bushing with the Powerflex one and the DT tensioner stop. It's nice to not hear that rattle anymore! The rear bushing on the plunger wasn't bad so I only used one of the Powerflex bushings that came in the kit. Guess I'll have a spare...