I removed the belt tensioners on my 1994 U-240 w/3116 Caterpillar in order to replace the bearings in the pulleys. While I was at it, I drilled a new hole in the bracket that positions the tensioner for the hydraulic pump. I did this on the advice of Brett Wolfe to relieve some of tension on the hydraulic pump. I just received the replacement pulleys, and all was well until I started trying to reinstall them.
Is there some trick to reinstalling the pulleys? In order to line up the holes and pins I must move the tensioning arm. That's one strong spring!! How do I reinstall the pulleys?
By the way, the new hole I drilled has nothing to do with this problem. It doesn't matter whether I use the original hole or the new hole, the tensioner hits the crank pulley unless I can move it out of the way.
Glen
Glen,
Suspect you are talking about the belt tensioner for the hydraulic pump. That short belt and only two pulleys does make getting the belt on a challenge.
Loosen the tensioner center bolt just enough that you can get the detent out of the hole. Install the belt. I then use a large pair of water pump pliers to rotate the tensioner enough to engage the detent. You could also use a pipe wrench.