My belt tensioner pully is going bad. Today, I lost my power steering. Can the tensioner cause this?

There are only 4 things that will cause a belt to squeal.
1. A bad/worn-out belt
2. A bad or misaligned pully or pulley bearing
3. A bad belt tensioner. (pulley, arm, pivot, or spring)
4. Malfunctioning or bad component (alternator, power steering pump, A/C compressor, etc.)

Remove the belt and check ALL pullies to make sure that they rotate smoothly and do not have any horizontal play in them (indicating worn-out bearings). Make sure that the tensioner pully swings freely and does not bind in its travel at any point and that it is properly aligned with the other pullies. A good way to check for proper alignment is to look at the belt position on the pullies with the engine running. If the belt is running on the edge of the pullies instead of in the center, it is usually caused by a bad belt tensioner or a bad bearing on one of the other pullies.

Check the belt for chunks missing, torn or cracked ribs or shiny "glazed" edges, ribs, or back.

could be as simple as the belt is stretched out and going bad, and will need to be replaced, however I would also take a look at the tensioner pully, it may be going bad as well and not keeping the belt tight enough.

Good luck!

It sounds very much like your power steering pump is going out. It was very good to check the fluid, something else that you may want to check is the tension on the belt that is turning the power steering pump. In few cases a worn belt can lose it's grip on the pully, especially if it's cold outside. Also, sometimes the tension pully is bad and isn't able to keep the belt tight enough to get a good grip on the pully.
If you are sure the whining is comming from the power steering pump, you will most likely have to replace it.

I hope this helps you.

I'm not familiar with your particular vehicle, but yes, there could have been another pulley that has come off. Since it is crankshaft driven, you have probably already made the correct assessment.

i am having a similar problem. my power steering pully is loose. im pretty sure i have to replace the pump and the pully however my power steering still works but the belt squeals.check all the pullys they drive the belt or belts. its usually always either the tensioner thats the pully that allows you to remove the drive belt or the power steering pully which sucks the most because you must remove the entire power steering pump to replace the pully and since you have to go through all that trouble you might as well replace the entire power steering pump as well. i am not a mechanic so try and find more information.

the serp belt is driven by the crankshaft pully and also has a tensioner may i suggest you check the crank pully it mayhave parted at the rubber damper and is spinning off line/back and forth also check the tensioner that runs on belt it may have failed or come loose

If the tensioner can be moved by hand the lock down bolt is not doing its job. Try to tighten the bolt with the belt pulled tight and then release. If the belt loosens the bolt is not working as it should. Make sure theres a lock washer (split lock washer) between the bolt head and the post.

check all pullys for play

Could be several things. WHICH ENGINE?.. 4 cylinder (has three belts, power steering/water pump, alternator & A/C compressor, one tensioner pully A/C compressor), The V6 2.7 (has only one belt, 1 Idler pully and 1 tensioner pully), the V6 3.5 has two belts - A/C/alternator, and power steering - there are two tensioner pullys). Noises can be caused by the belt(s) themselves, pullys, bearings, pully bearings, water pump shaft bearings (or belts/pullys rubbing up against something). Let's not forget that there is also belt(s) behind the Timing Belt cover as well as pullys and bearings associated with the timing system. You could start by removing one accy drive belt at a time (alternator, water pump, compressor, power steering, etc) to see whether or not the noise goes away in each case. If after each case, you discover the noise is still there, it's probably behind the timing belt cover (idler/tensioner pully, water pump shaft bearing, crankshaft bearing, etc.). Good Luck

For the 3.0L Vulcan, you have a tensioner that is located just below the power steering pully. Use a 15mm wrench or the 15mm shallow well socket that comes in a Serpentine Belt tool to push the tensioner toward the rear of the engine compartment. Take the old belt off and route the new belt. The belt begins at the crankshaft pully, goes under and around the a/c compressor, up around the power steering pump, around (with the flat edge) the idler pully, around the alternator, the flat edge then sits against the tensioner and back around to the water pump pully. You should have a belt routing diagram on the underside of the hood just above the serpentine pully assembly.