'99 Cobra belt tensioner?

[john_anch_ak]

I've done a search on this and so far have only fried eyeballs to show for it.

I'm replacing my serpintine belt and when reading the Ford manual it says to ease the pressure off the belt tensioner by inserting a 1/2" breaker bar into the belt tensioner and pulling clockwise to ease the pressure off so I can finish routing the belt to all of the pulleys. When I look at the belt tensioner and to the place where this 1/2" square slot is supposed to be all I see is a threaded hole, nothing even remotely looks like there is a place to use the
1/2" breaker bar.

I have a 1999 Cobra SVT and per the Ford factory manual it is an "early production" model. The manual shows pictures of both the early and late production belt tensioners and the early belt tensioner picture clearly shows the 1/2" slot for the breaker bar, but again all I have is a threaded hole where this 1/2" slot is supposed to be.

Has anyone seen this before? It's even hard to get something in there to pry on it so I can route the new belt and I don't want to screw anything up by doing it that way.

It's summer time in Alaska, (which is damn short), the sun is shinning, the skies are blue, and my Cobra is sitting in my garage not going anywhere until I get this taken care of!!

Thanks for any assistance!

John

[Swannyvill]

can you take a picture?

[BlackVenom99]

There have been a few threads on this, my 99 was the same way as were many others. Just use a large screwdriver to pry it down, an extra set of hands would help. Or if it has higher mileage and you don't want to mess with prying on it you could always replace it with the revised tensioner from your local parts store.

I remember reading that you can get a bolt to thread in there and ratchet against that, but in my search nobody had posted a bolt size.

[hostilewes]

I did put a short bolt in the hole and used a closed end wrench to move the arm down. But im sorry, i dont either remember the size. I remember it being metric.

[OzzDOA]

A pry bar or long screwdriver is your best bet. When the recalls were performed on the '99s the tensioner was one of the things replaced. The recall kit came with a bolt that went into the tensioner for install, instead of leaving it there or giving it to the owner for future use 99.999% of dealers just removed the bolt after the recall kit was installed.

[gmsux]

My 99 is the same. I think it's a 12X1.5 bolt. Either way, just thread one in there about 6 threads, it doesn't need to bottom out, and pray against that.

[slick4_6]

I ended up using a long screwdriver as a prybar. Two hands greatly help the process.

[john_anch_ak]

Many thanks to all of you!!! I do appreciate the quick responses and great ideas!!

[brkntrxn]

Originally Posted by gmsux

My 99 is the same. I think it's a 12X1.5 bolt. Either way, just thread one in there about 6 threads, it doesn't need to bottom out, and pray against that.

Interesting concept, LOL.


To the OP, my 99 had that tensioner on it as well. Another option is to grab it with a pair of large vice grips and pull up to relieve the tension.

That was one of the first parts I swapped out when I got the car and was changing belts.

[gmsux]

you might as well pray with that tensioner that some one helps you or you have an epiphany because it's a real

LOL! fast typing fingers and no proofreading!

Originally Posted by brkntrxn

Interesting concept, LOL.


To the OP, my 99 had that tensioner on it as well. Another option is to grab it with a pair of large vice grips and pull up to relieve the tension.

That was one of the first parts I swapped out when I got the car and was changing belts.

[Boss75]

One of the bolts that actually holds your tensioner to the block will thread into the hole in the center. I used that a few times to get the belt on and off before I just replaced it with a tensioner that had a 1/2" slot in it.

[manystangs]

The thread is a bit old, however I was looking through my SVT Cobra recognition guide and it contains the instructions Ford used to perform the "fix". It indicated Ford used an M8-1.25 X 10 bolt and M8 washer threaded into the hole in the belt tensioner. A 6 mm hex key socket was attached to a breaker bar (or other suitable tool), and the M8 bolt used as leverage, to rotate the belt tensionor clockwise.

Of course the bolt must be removed before reinstalling the belt tensioner stop.

[POISND U]

I used a BFS to get it loose too, but I just went and got a new tensioner at AutoZone for $25 after I got my pullies on....seemed to make sense at the time.