Hi, all.

I posted a while ago about the noise(s) that sounded like loose belts but were not. Just wanted to update everyone who helped with sugestions.

First I changed the water pump as the constant noise was coming from that vicinity and I could not see a water pump change in recent maintenance records I got from the PO. After the water pump the car became much quiter, but the "loose belt" noise was still there. I performed the "white line" test on the crankshaft pulley and, although not pretty, that thing is not coming apaprt just yet. So, I decided to go with the TB tensioner. Ordered it from FCP Groton for $26 and installed it yesterday. The noise is gone! But that was obvious even before I started the car as the old one was completely seized up. I could not turn it at all. Which begs the question: did the timing belt get damaged by all that rubbing (rahter than rolling) against the idler? My records indicate the belt to be less than 30K old, so I am not in a huge hurry to replace it unless the failed tensioner did some harm to it. What do you all think? Other than that the car is so quiet it's startling. For an old girl she goes pretty smoothly.

Thanks to all who posted with suggestions and tips on r&r methods.



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Vladimir. '98 S70 base, 5-speed manual - his, '93 945 - hers,