I'm about to change out my auto tensioner because its making some noise. However, there is a problem when removing the long bolt from the pulley. The bolt will hit the frame before coming out completely. I have heard of people removing the side motor mount to jack the engine up enough to get the required clearance. What other ways are there to do this? Maybe something im missing?

 

If you are refering to the drive belt tensioner, it should be as simple as pulling the two bolts. I did it recently and I didnt have to remove the motor mount

 

Yeah, bolt should come out without hitting frame. Not sure what the issue is. Do you already have the smaller bolt removed?

 

i havent started the work yet but the part is currently being shipped to my place. here is a picture i found online for what i am talking about. its from a 7th gen accord v6 but i figured i might run into the same problem.

 

Nope, won't be a problem. (and removing the side mount wouldn't help anyhow....don't think you could jack the engine enough to clear the frame...).

Are you sure the noise is the AT and not just the belt position? If you haven't already, I'd flex the AT and reposition the belt, then check for noise.

 

I changed this a few months ago...you CAN'T remove the bolt...only the 10MM smaller alignment bolt comes out totally, this long bolt comes out WITH the tensioner (and is actually held on with a plastic washer on the other side.

1) Draw yourself a belt diagram
2) Have patience, move PS reservoir out of the way

Total install took me 25 minutes.

AND PS, this absolutely got rid of my super annoying screeching bearing noise. In hindsight, I probably could have just changed one of the 2 pulleys ON the tensioner, but since it's something that goes bad anyway, I felt it safer to replace the entire thing AND the belt all at once.


Good luck!

 

i thought the belt was uniform all around? should be able to go at any position.

anyways, the sound that i get is a "chatter" when i step on the gas, and it happens ONLY around 1900 rpm. its annoying because cruising rpm is around there so it makes that chatter very often when im cruising around in the city. highway has no noise at all because the revs are past 1900rpm. also, when idling, i can see the pulley shake slightly.

i had a very similar chatter from my 06 accord I4 and changing the auto tensioner on that fixed the problem.

 

so basically the long bolt in the pic doesnt need to come out at all? i would only need to remove the small bolts around it and the whole tensioner would come out?

im gonna be doing the work this weekend so i just want to make sure i got my bases covered. you guys are helpful!

 

No, it comes out but it's still in the AT. Then the unit will drop out the bottom..

 

It is. But moving it slightly on the pulleys can make a difference sometimes. However, now knowing the previously unspecified sound is a "chatter" and the pulley wobbles, it probably won't fix your problem.

One last thing, have you checked the torque values on the AT bolt (big one)? Think it's 33 ft-lbs.

 

Yeah, it doesn't come out while ON the car, once you get the whole assembly out you can take it out. There is 1 10MM bolt right under the assembly. It'll make sense once the new tensioner gets there!

 

One other hint: You'll probably need a 3/8" ratchet to totally loosen the big bolt without hitting the frame. Same thing for re-torqueing: 3/8" torque wrench.

 

Absolutely right...a 1/2 would be too thick. I guess didn't think to mention that cause most of my arsenal of sockets are 3/8's. Although on my short list of bday requests from family is a metric set of impact 1/2 sockets.

 

You know there's a TSB with replacement instruction on this right?

TSB 08-031 on this page (read the instruction in post #1 to access): https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/3g-tl-technical-service-bulletins-tsbs-3g-garage-j-016-a-613659/

Also check TSB 08-049.

And speaking of TSB's, why are you doing this instead of getting the dealer to do it under warranty or good will?

 

^^ That's for adding a shim to the tb idler pulley (08-31).

But good call on 08-49 as he will probably have to trim the TB cover...

 

Really? There was a TSB on this? F***...I even told these 2 tech guys I know about the problem and they hadn't a clue (or didn't mention it!).

 

those TSB links dont work for me, says i dont have permission to view it

btw im at 77k miles now so i think im out of warranty. last weekend i took my car to the dealer to see if they can replace my flaking door handles under warranty and when they saw my miles they said cant do it.

 

No TSB as far as I know for replacing the AT. The one TSB Bearcat referred to (read my earlier post) is for adding a shim to the TB idler pulley. The other TSB tells you that IF you put on a new AT, then you'll need to trim the TB cover in order for the newly designed AT to fit properly.

To be able to read the TSBs, you need to follow the full instructions on the TSB before you open up a TSB.

 

btw, it looks like only the 04-06 base TL has an updated auto tensioner. i looked up the part for the 07 type S, and theres only 1 kind of AT.

yea i just read the instructions and the links work fine.

anyways i think i have all the knowledge i need now, will be doing the work this upcoming friday.

 

I recently had the same issue with my TL, extremely annoying when idling. Dealer took care of it for around 320 with a new timing belt as well. Sorry I cant really help with any pointers on the install.

 

I was thinking of the squeaking noise and thougt it was the same thing. The 2G had an auto-tensioner recall and maybe I got everything jumbled up.


Regardless, Good catch.

 

Hmmm...I got a new one and didn't have to trim anything?
Anyway, new tensioner assembly and belt ran me 160 shipped. Got rid of that super annoying whine I had.

 

i just replaced my auto tensioner. install went smoothly but however it did not get rid of the "chatter" sound i had around 2k rpm. however it did get rid of the rattling noise that the tensioner was making at times. upon more inspection, i realized that i only get that 2k rpm chatter after i start the engine(whether its warmed up or not) but always goes away after a quick drive. to me, sounds like theres something maybe rattling around but after the engine gets hot it get stuck so the chatter stops. im going to do my rv6 v3 jpipe soon and maybe i'll find something loose when i get under the car.

 

Read TSB 08-031. That might be your problem....

 

just read the tsb, thats definitely not what im experiencing.

its hard to diagnose this because it goes away after about 2 blocks of driving. cant really show it to a mechanic when it goes away by the time i get there.