2012 Fit. Told I need new tensioner pulley and will do belt too. Shop planned to use Duralast tensioner and Gates belt. My research shows Gates good for belts but aftermarket tensioner may not fit properly or fail prematurely. Should I spend the extra money on a genuine Honda tensioner? I may have other problems with the car. However it is critical I don't have any surprises with the tensioner. Anyone have experiences with Duralast tensioner? Well actually, i have pretty much decided to go with OEM tensioner and Gates belt. Any experiences with that combo?

 

Can you clarify whether you need a new tensioner pulley or a new tensioner? They are two separate parts, and you can purchase just the pulley or the tensioner + pulley.

If you need both parts, RockAuto claims that Litens is the Original Equipment Manufacturer and you can get the Litens tensioner and pulley (part #999249A) for $71. If you only need the pulley, you can get that for $25.

The Gates belt will be fine.

 

Hi Drew21,

Thank you. I'm using a shop and they aren't ordering from rockauto. They said it's the tensioner pulley, so I assume both. I don't want one without the other.

I talked to Honda. They saId it is all one part. Tensioner and pulley are together in one part. So confused a little about what you're saying they are separate. But thanks for your time.

 

It is one part in the sense that the two parts are attached to each other; it is also two parts because... it's two parts.

The belt tensioner has a pulley on it, which we can call the tensioner pulley. Either or both parts can be bad. In your initial question, you asked if the Duralast tensioner was any good. I have no idea, but if only your tensioner pulley is bad why replace the original Honda tensioner?

I will note that the Fit service manual provides instructions for removing/replacing the tensioner pulley, and you can definitely buy the tensioner + pulley or only the pulley from Honda, so there are definitely two separate parts.

I would ask for clarification as to which part you need before agreeing to the repair.

 

Hmmm I see. I will need to clarify with them. They told me the bearings were going bad. And I needed to replace tensioner pulley. But where are the bearings?

 

My car is 2007 Sport M/T but this should relate. Do all my own work, car now at 275,000 mi. I had a noisy idler pulley bearing. Bought Duralast and it didn't fit correctly. Returned for refund. Honda part very expensive, my log book says $62 around 2014. I cleaned the bearing up and was able to see the industry part number stamped on the outer race. Bought a name brand (SKF) bearing of same number on Amazon for $6. Pressed the old bearing off, pressed new one on, done. I have a 20 ton press but if you don't have a press, careful hammering with a brass punch could work. Don't try this unless you know what you're doing. Must alternate around the circle to avoid jamming at an angle. Tap evenly 180º across from the tap points, keep going around the bearing as you slowly gain progress. Many repair shops who have a press will do this for a nominal charge. Only takes a few minutes with a press. Good luck.

 

The bearings are in the pulley - that's how the pulley spins millions of times over 100K miles.

Unless something catastrophic happened to physically break the pulley (unlikely), when they say "the pulley is bad" what they mean is the bearings in the pulley are worn out. As the other poster suggested, you can replace the bearings yourself if you're a DIY person. Most will just buy a new tensioner pulley. Or, for a 2012 Fit, it wouldn't be out of line to replace the tensioner + pulley and hopefully be good for another 13 years. In a previous post I gave a suggestion for what is probably an equivalent part to what you would get from Honda, but at a much lower cost.

Note that most mechanics will install parts you purchase. For example, if they say "we use Duralast parts" and you have a suggestion from the other poster that that part might not fit well, you could suggest sourcing your own part and having them do the install.

In addition, the Service Manual outlines a couple relatively simple procedures for testing the tensioner. The most basic doesn't even require you to remove the tensioner from the car, you just watch it in operation while the car is idling.

 

Thank you to both of you. I went with a Honda tensioner pulley and Gates belt.

I'm a 64 year old woman. Can't fix my own cars. I did replace my own blower motor last year but thats about the extent if what I can do. But I can understand a lot of mechanical lingo.

But I'm at the mercy of the mechanic.

I have another post up about a metallic rattle and jerking. Drew would you have any thoughts on that thread youd like to offer?

 

Thank you Drew and Kwazy. I went with a Honda tensioner pulley and a gates belt.

I'm a 64 year old woman and don't know how to fix the car myself. I did replace my blower motor by myself last year, but that's the extent of it. So I'm at the mercy of mechanics.

Drew I posted a new problem called metallic rattle and jerking. Would you have anything you would want to share on that thread?

Thanks again.