Are my timing belt tensioner pulleys bad?

[Ed Fleming]

I'm replacing my timing belts - the tensioner pulleys spin real easy, but I feel a very slight roughness/rumble coming through the bracket as I hold it. When I turn the tensioner so the pulley is facing upward and give it a spin, it doesn't spin as easily but the roughness isn't detectable anymore. What do you think - worn out or not? The bike has 49k miles on it and looks like the belts have been done before (although not sure on that). I kind of doubt the tensioners have been replaced before with that kind of mileage. An auto mechanic friend said if the pulleys spin fast and easy, they are worn out, that new ones dont.
Also, what is the best (and most economical) place to buy new pulleys?

Thanks!

[scootsx2]

They should spin very smoothly with no detectable roughness or noise. Your mechanic friend is correct - new tensioner pulleys will spin more slowly (but very smoothly) than worn pulleys due to wear in the old pulleys and possibly the breakdown of the bearing lubricant. I replaced the tensioner pulleys when I brought my bike back to life.

[Whiskerfish]

Shoptalk. About the 3rd or 4th thing down on the left side is a link to a procedure to rebuild the tensioners. New are pretty spendy as I recall

[Placerville]

Welcome from California and to the NGW. Please show your year of GL in your signature line so we know how to help you. Also, feel free to tell us something about yourself

[Ed Fleming]

Hi Placerville, Thanks for the welcome! I added that info to my signature line, a 1977 GL1000. It's my first Goldwing (so far), and I bought it this past November from a consignment dealer in New Hampshire. It had been sitting for 3-4 years, from what they said. I think I may have paid too much, but hopefully it will work out. I've had other bikes in the distant past, but stopped riding for various reasons until this past year. I do all my own work, mechanically etc, so I'm learning alot about the goldwing world. Thanks again!

[camplejeune]

If they are like what the Valkyrie uses they can be easily rebuilt for about $25 each. I have done one using a gates idler pulley as well as turned a fellow valk rider into a believer as he too did the same rebuild. I have 2,000 miles on my rebuilt unit with no problems to date.

[todd54219]

Ed, you said you were not sure of the condition of the belts. If you dont know for sure how old they are, change them. These are interference engines and if the belt slips, you can hole a piston, bend valves, and all kinds of fun (expensive) things can happen.

CHANGE THE BELTS.

IMHO
Todd

[gregforesi]

Rebuilding the tensioners on a 1000 is a bit of a project but as Whiskerfish mentions, new OEM are pricey at about $73 each.

[Track T 2411]

If they are like what the Valkyrie uses they can be easily rebuilt for about $25 each. I have done one using a gates idler pulley as well as turned a fellow valk rider into a believer as he too did the same rebuild. I have 2,000 miles on my rebuilt unit with no problems to date.

I'm not sure how they compare to the Valk's... Do you have any pics, or possibly a link describing/showing the procedure?

Good wrenchin'
Todd

[lcallison]

The procedure to rebuild the tensioners is in Shop Talk. My b-i-l did his last year and the procedure works very well. His was a 78 engine in a 77 frame.

[camplejeune]

If they are like what the Valkyrie uses they can be easily rebuilt for about $25 each. I have done one using a gates idler pulley as well as turned a fellow valk rider into a believer as he too did the same rebuild. I have 2,000 miles on my rebuilt unit with no problems to date.

I'm not sure how they compare to the Valk's... Do you have any pics, or possibly a link describing/showing the procedure?

Good wrenchin'
Todd

Google Goldwing-Rebuild the timing belt tensioner or gates T42015 idler pulley. The article is good for GL1000, 1100, 1200 and 1500's

let us know if you find it or not.

[desmato]

Gates T42015 tensioner "bearing" and T274 belts. BOTH from RockAuto. Belts were $14ea. Bearings were $15 ea. I couldn't touch 'em locally for less than $25-30.

I just bought and completed 2 set of each, 1 for my '75 ('78 motor) and 1 for the neighbors '80. rebuild of tensioners was a joke when it came to difficulty. Took me all of 3-4 minutes each. granted, I have been a wrench my whole life and have a full shop at the house. I would say that anyone who can remove the covers and belts has more than enough skill to rebuild their own tensioners for $15 ea. and the new bearing is way better than the old stamped roller. I used tapered head grade 10.9 10mm bolts & flange nuts (ACE hdwr) which self centered in the hole though they stuck out about 3/32" on the back side. this didn't cause any problems on the '80 but the '78 motor had spacers that I ground a half moon out of to clear, (photo)

Todd

[camplejeune]

That is exactly the same flat head bolt that I used from a hardware store. I did know about Rock auto when I ordered my bearings. They were on Amazon.com, bought two at $17 each with free shipping. Even with the hardware I was still around $20 for an $80+ part from the dealer. I know I bought one from them before looking into this rebuild. Not only do I have spare bearing but an OEM tensioner on hand. You are so right about this bearing being so much better than OEM.