I don't know, but the one in my wifes previous car's hatch worked for over 15 years. And it was used alot.
I wish people would stop being cheap and try to re-invent the wheel. Just buy the Gates 38404 Belt Tensioner from AMAZON its only $70.00. WTF Its the EXACT same part you get when you buy the OEM one from the Stealership parts counter for over $200.00. I change mine every year (Spring) before the Dragon along with the Belt, Oil, Brake Fluid and a 4 wheel alignment and anything else that needs to be done. Amazon.com: Gates 38404 Belt Tensioner: Automotive
Hmm...Let me think about this... Would I rather change a tensioner for 70 bucks every now and then, or walnut shell blast my gunky valves periodically.... Decisions, decisions.........:devil:
while I don't often agree with Dave. O, I certainly do in this case. I just had a conversation with Alain Lauziere about this. he has had no issues in 4-5 years of RACING R53's. preventative maintenance is your friend
I guess I would rather have an assembly that doesn't need to be replaced on a regular basis simply because it has a poorly designed fairly cheap part on it.
Let's make the clamor a bit louder for these options: 1. Exact Stabilus Damper to be sold separately from the assembly at less than half the Gates assembly price. $70 isn't much for the whole tensioner, but the strut life is outlived by the pulley many times over. Plus, assembly change isn't something I'd wanna do yearly. 2. A better, more durable replacement damper. 3. 6PK1388/1374 belts to be available in Stretchfit. This will be a great long term combo w/ that Alta adjustable tensioner. No periodic adjustments. The belt's designed elasticity will compensate for the absence of a tensioner. No more extra tensioner stops needed, nor fear of snapped belts. All you'd need on long journeys aside from basic tools & stuff would be a spare stretch belt as precaution.....won't that be ideal? Again, perhaps sponsoring vendors on here can help develop or source those 3 options for us! That will be some awesome service to the 1st gen MINI community! Anyone up for it?
Interesting thread. At 118,000 miles I'm due to change the original tensioner. I have one that I bought from the Amazonian's on the shelf. I'm not one who wants to reinvent the wheel either. Heck Dave O you could be selling slightly used tensioners on fleaBay for fun & profit. :smilewinkgrin:
I didn't share the same long term luck, Crash. Actually just ignored my failed damper til the bushes fell off & had to change both the damper & bushes from a new assembly. No doubt a working damper smoothens everything out.
Well if you ignore maintaince that needs to be done to a tensioner shame on you and you get what you deserve. Stretch belts and ALTA's crap will not help you do not adjust and maintain them. Also when you start making real HP #'s over 225 you have to worry about belt slippage. You should always have a good non-stretching belt and working tensioner.
No aguing your point, Dave. Especially w/ the horses you're packing. The aim of this thread isn't to do away w/ periodic & preventive maintenance but to improve an obviously weak stock tensioner damper. Failing dampers might be a MINI normal not everyone can just accept. This is the exact scenario where you find quack engineers & alchemists coming out w/ ingenius ideas. Who knows, one of those might just hit the nail. The wheel never needed reinvention....but innovation never stopped, that's why we see stronger, lighter & better designed ones.:wink:
Just a lil bump....Can anyone point me to a vendor, a link or anything to help our quest for Goodyear Stretch or Gates Micro V Horizon Stretch Fit in 6PK1370 to 6PK1390 sizes? We've at least 2 R53s willing to be guinea pigs for this mod.
That's easy, just search Amazon. BTW~ I don't think any MINIs vendor has "Stretch" belts. Good luck with your experiments and let us all know how it goes.