GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Nice! This, with a Gatorback are much needed for me. I was squealing and rattling all last year.

I had the dreaded "rocks in a can" sound at cold idle, but I just changed out my belt to a Gatorback & now the noise is TOTALLY gone. I DID NOT change out the piston though. Im not complaining though. Just throwing this out there cause the belt solved my problem. I still have the piston sitting in my garage & I will just keep it since they are known to go bad. I also had this strange "growl" when I stepped on the gas from a stop.I Could never pin it down. Super quiet at idle now ! and most importantly at COLD idle.

mine started squeeling only at idle in "D" sometmes. I jump out of the car and put my hand on the piston...the top skirt was slightly rubbing the piton body, causing the squeel noise. Belt was not slipping. Now one more thing to fix...I did the search "vibe Tensioner" No ppiston listed. ..........can piston be gotten from and auto parts store..."autzone" and such??

Quote, originally posted by jasonvibe »mine started squeeling only at idle in "D" sometmes. I jump out of the car and put my hand on the piston...the top skirt was slightly rubbing the piton body, causing the squeel noise. Belt was not slipping. Now one more thing to fix...I did the search "vibe Tensioner" No ppiston listed. ..........can piston be gotten from and auto parts store..."autzone" and such??@ the end of page 2 of this thread: http://www.amazon.com/Tensione...EVC52

thank you...seems I missed that Amazon listing. And Yes, mine has the marbles rattle when cold high idle in gear sometimes too. I ordered the "piston". Looking at 1 week befiore I see it. Also it does not ship from Amazon but directly from Autopartpro. I also notice in the lionk posted for how to change the piston. Mine has been making noise for a year.Says. The lower bolt is removable. I hope so , because that could also be worn by the failed(wobbly) bushing. Then a trip to the hardware store would be in order. Blue Crush...how was the lower bolt on yours.

Quote, originally posted by jasonvibe »thank you...seems I missed that Amazon listing. And Yes, mine has the marbles rattle when cold high idle in gear sometimes too. I ordered the "piston". Looking at 1 week befiore I see it. Also it does not ship from Amazon but directly from Autopartpro. I also notice in the lionk posted for how to change the piston. Mine has been making noise for a year.Says. The lower bolt is removable. I hope so , because that could also be worn by the failed(wobbly) bushing. Then a trip to the hardware store would be in order. Blue Crush...how was the lower bolt on yours. Yes, the lower bolt is removable. I had no issues and swapped it out in 30 minutes (taking my time).

I was worried about the bolt vs. bushing... wobble and wear. I suppose the bushing is not hardened vs. the bolt being hardened. So the bushing loses. I found the torque spec. on the NUT 21 ft/lbs. Which is on a steel stud. But there is no spec on the bolt...since Toyota wants you to change the whole assy. That arm the bolt goes into is aluminum. So I will have to check when I remove it. And find the reasonable spec. w/o doing damage...and Loctite too.

I rec'd my tensioner in 2 days. It is pretty much and exact duplicate of the original. ONE correction . BOTH FASTENERS are 12mm. I saw a posting saying one was 13mm. This is a Toyota engine and they rarely, if ever , use 13mm headed fasteners on the engines. The nut and bolt are 12mm for sure. Lastly I see why these wear. Plastic and steel bushing design. The plastic gets "hammered". Especially the lower one. A brass and steel would last much longer. That's my next project remove the cheap bushings on the old tensioner and improve it. As I can see the replacement will not outlast the original.

anywhere to still get this piece??

I looked on Amazon and not in stock nor anywhere else that I can see.

Also, the noise isn't there when the car is warmed up, would this still be that tensioner piston?

Can't seem to find just the piston part sold separately anymore as of February 2013. How lame. Guess it is time to fork it over for the full assembly. The dealer is asking for over $220 (wow!) so will be looking at aftermarket.