norakat

Hi,

I own a 2016 Lexus ES 350.

Has anyone had a problem with low tension on their serpentine belt / V-belt ?

I get some belt noise sometimes when I go in reverse or am starting up the car. I went to check the tension of the belt with my Kriket gauge and it read 30lbs.

Can anything other then the spring tensioner cause low tension on the serpentine / V-belt ?

Anybody ever replace their serpentine belt tensioner?

norakat

Not 1 reply ???

Aww, anyway.. now I notice that when I turn the AC on I get the noise.

Now I'm confused. Have both low tension and sound (light rattle and sometimes squeal) when AC is turned on.

JimInTN

If you have a lot of play or slack in the belt when you press down on the belt in between two pulleys (~1/2" ) then your belt tensioner or a pulley has gone bad, or just needs to be adjusted to take up the slack. You tube will show how to adjust the tensioner. Also, the bearings in one of the pulleys may be going bad.

norakat

Thanks for your reply.

This model has a spring loaded automatic tensioner.

So it looks like there is vibration that increases on the serpentine belt tensioner when I turn the AC on. When I take a reading with my Kriket gauge on the belt, I get as low as 30-40lbs when reading along the edge of the belt using the guide as it says in the instructions, but as high as 50-60 lbs when taking a reading in the center. The vibration on the tensioner goes away as well light chatter/rattle sound.

I think it might be mainly the AC compressor pulley/clutch, but I will end up changing both the tensioner and the entire AC compressor. Will report back in the results once I am done.