It's been discussed recently on the M3 forum.
I'll add my 2 Pfennig here also.
Why would anyone want to risk an engine for $20-50?

 

Risk an engine? I am pretty sure that if the spring fatigues and the tensioner fails, the worst that might happen is I will loose my A/C belt and be uncomfortably warm for a while. I drove my e36 335k miles on the original A/C tensioner ant it is still going so far as I know.

Thanks for the tip. I will check the M3 forum.

Since my post, I found another post on the BimmerFest forum which says that Volvo INA 8627994 fits perfectly and the dust cap fits. Volvo wants $62 $20 at FCP

The same BimmerFest thread says that the Gates 38018 works, but you have to attach the dust cap with RTV.. $17 from NAPA or other local auto parts store.

I think I will go with the Volvo INA unless someone here has a better suggestion.

 

Risk an engine? I am pretty sure that if the spring fatigues and the tensioner fails, the worst that might happen is I will loose my A/C belt and be uncomfortably warm for a while. I drove my e36 335k miles on the original A/C tensioner ant it is still going so far as I know.

Thanks for the tip. I will check the M3 forum.

Since my post, I found another post on the BimmerFest forum which says that Volvo INA 8627994 fits perfectly and the dust cap fits. Volvo wants $62 $20 at FCP

The same BimmerFest thread says that the Gates 38018 works, but you have to attach the dust cap with RTV.. $17 from NAPA or other local auto parts store.

I think I will go with the Volvo INA unless someone here has a better suggestion.

I look at things differently. If I saved you $50 and when/if the belt came off and knocked off the main belt (don't think it can't happen? it does!), I would be thrown under the bus here in about 5 minutes.

I'd much rather see you choose a quality part and never have to worry about it.

I've used the dayco part in a pinch late on a Friday afternoon. NOT impressed. Had to swap it out 8 months later due to bearing/roller wobble.
YMMV

 

I remember getting the Dayco years ago for my hydraulic tensioner, which lasted a real long time. It was likely marked INA From Slovakia or Yugoslavia...great bearing makers those folks!

First time the cap fit...next time it didn't. I don't know that you'll be degrading the life so significantly riding without a dust cap. Slightly...technically, yes...but for the price, you could probably get three Daycos for the price of one volvo. I know I wrote about pulleys years ago with PNs...but 15 years is a long time to hope they make the parts the same way.

Good luck. (BTW, instead of $60 for only a pulley, I'd be surprised if fcp euro didn't have the entire assembly for that. Some converted to hydraulic, but I never saw any need.)

 

You didnt ask, but you can make these pulley bearings last forever by forcing grease behind the rubber lip/seal. I have a little greaser designed to push through the tiny space n inject it. Some seals easily pull out n snap back in place. Others a large bore injection needle can let you get synthetic oil in. If you do the latter - pro tip: you cannot draw oil IN through the needle. Fill the syringe and inject it out. Some quirk of physics.

 

et you get synthetic oil in

Can oil stay in there? Grease stays but I don't know oil will stay long enough.

 

My search of the forum indicates that this has not been discussed for 10 years, so perhaps someone here has additional information to share.

I have a mechanical tensioner on the A/C on my '04 325i touring. The parts vendors sell only a complete tensioner. RealOEM shows only a complete tensioner.

The pulley that came on the car is an INA F-233152.1 Apparently, this pulley is not sold retail anywhere.

The Dayco 89133 pulley is identical, but reviews on that are mixed, with failures reported at anywhere from 3 days to 50k miles. Also, the dust cap from the INA reportedly does not fit on the Dayco pulley, and I don't find a dust cap for the Dayco anywhere.

I would LOVE to get another INA. My original INA F-233152.1 has 260k miles on it and still feels OK (not perfect). I am replacing the other two pulleys so I would like to get this one as well if I can get a good one.

Has anyone found a good solution? Thanks!

BMW A/C Belt Tensioner - INA 11287512758

BMW A/C Belt Tensioner - INA 11287512758

www.fcpeuro.com

 

The INA pulley has disappeared from the FCP site since this morning. Now they show only a Gates (China) and Volvo branded.
$45 for a complete tensioner is likely money better spent than $62 for a Volvo pulley.

 

If you're in the outback, you can remove the seals and regrease, then replace the seals. I did that for a few pulleys, having had lots of experience working with my son's skateboard bearings. Truth be told, I never used them, but kept them as spares. It can be done carefully...just pull the seal out with a knife point.

But, ya know...for $20...get a new pulley.

 

Agreed with above. I would recommend the Dayco Pulley, I've been running one for years. If not buy the Volvo one. We're talking $20 here, not hundreds or thousands. If you have to replace in 3 years, who cares. Easy to swap out.

 

I had the top tensioner pully to recently act up...it would squeal every time it would begin to rain or afterwards, (moisture in the air) I would clumsily shoot it with wd40 ...the squeal would vanish but only to return when rains would come few days later. Then I visited the boneyard and there I found replacements for that tensioner pully and a few other parts. Once the replacement was made I inspected the offending pully and found it simply was toast... burnt out! Kept the dust cap tho.

"Picked" tensioner and alternator 💪😎

Thought I would replace alternator and the tensioner, just to have the originals sitting on the shelf for emergency. Boy was I wrong! Seems like i avoided an emergency...replacement is overdue! Sent from my SM-A115U using Tapatalk

www.bimmerfest.com

Sent from my SM-J727T using Tapatalk

Can't really see it in this pic!

 

WD-40 isn't a lubricant and probably only served to wash any remaining grease out, so I'm not surprised that it was toast by the time that you pulled it.

 

I thought all the A/C tensioners were mechanical- never seen
a hydraulic version. Unlike the main tensioner, it's not seeing
a lot of belt length variation!

and yeah, I'd cheap out on the A/C tensioner pulley...

...if I had to, I guess

t
we're pullin' for ya

 

I just looked at FCP Euro.com and they have the INA tensioner: BMW A/C Belt Tensioner - INA 11287512758

 

I just looked at FCP Euro.com and they have the INA tensioner: BMW A/C Belt Tensioner - INA 11287512758

I posted that for him last night. He's trying to cheap out and replace only the pulley and not the whole tensioner.

$45 isn't enough to me to justify the trouble of trying to hunt down a part that isn't commonly available.

 

On the oil staying in there - yes. I've put synthetic oil in a tensioner pulley that began making noise and then forgotten about it until it began to make noise again years later. Grease stays in longer - yes. But recall that grease is nothing but oil with a thickener in it and the oil is what's providing the surface film and lubrication. When a bearing gets hot, it kinda melts the surrounding grease or the grease at the tips of the rollers which then flows the thinned oil mixture into the bearing's hot spots and "relubes" itself and one of grease's advantages over mere oil. A simplification, but illustrates why putting oil into these works so well. They're not loaded much, nor are they super high speed, so it's not a particularly demanding component. Oil will come out of the rubber weather seal much more easily. On pulling the seals, I use an automotive pick designed for this - careful with a knife as you can easily nick the seal.