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Belt Tensioner on 94 XJ 4.0

curtis1620

NAXJA Forum User
Location
baltimore
I bought my 94 XJ 4.0 used. The guy I bought it from mentioned that the belt tensioner had broken off, however it was still adjustable by prying on the power steering pump. I'm guessing the tensioner somehow adjusted the position of the power steering pulley to tighten or loosen the belt.

I now have a loose belt and would like to replace the tensioner, however I can't find it anywhere. The guy at my local jeep dealer was unable to find the part and said there was no tensioner on this model. Can't find any in the local junkyards.

Can anyone help me out here? Part number? Will a new power steering bracket have the tensioner? Was there a tensioner to begin with?

Thank you for your help!
 
the power steering pump bracket is the tensioner. it is a screw drive. basically you loosen the pump bolt, loosen the carriage bolt and ratchet on the assembly adjuster that runs under the pump.

you need the whole thing
 
any old pick a part should have it. If it is a cherokee made before 1997 it has the tensioner/ps bracket you need. The guy is just to lazy to go pull a part that he will not make much on.

Go to a junkyard and grab it yourself, should not take too long, and it will be cheaper. I actually need one to get my MJ converted to power steering. The local yards around here have several.
 
'95 and down (to '91?) is what you need to look for. Our two '96s have the newer style, which I prefer, by the way. But I don't know if it's a dead swap, as things changed in '96.
 
The bracket is adjusted with a long screw with the head pointing toward the airbox. It is a lot easier to see how this all fits together if you remove the airbox which only takes a couple of minutes. The most likely broken part is the adjusting screw and the easiest way to break that is by not first loosening all the bolts that secure the power steering bracket before you start adjusting the belt tension. It's been a while since I did this but I believe there are two in back and one in front plus the pivot screw. These can be gotten to from above with the proper open-end wrench although some go at the back bolts from below.

This came up in a thread some time ago where a student in Boston without a lot of time to go rummaging through the yards tried to find the adjusting bolt. I don't know where all he looked but know he didn't find one in the allotted time. He ended up using the "crowbar" method mentioned above and was able to get the thing sufficiently tight to drive. I personally wouldn't really trust that for any great length of time.
 
I have owned and worked on cars where the belt was tensioned like this oem. There was even a nice spot on the block to lever the prybar against.

I am not saying there are no better ways, but there is nothing unsafe or untrustworthy about it.
 
My '85 2.5L XJ was tensioned with the prybar method (with the alternator bracket). However, it was designed for this with a long adjustment slot and a large headed snubbing bolt facing forward.

The 4.0 is a completely different beast but I admit that I have no experience with attempting to properly tension the belt and maintaining that tension without the adjusting screw, so will withdraw my statement about not trusting this as an alternative setup.
 
right, usually they are slotted. Properly done though the tension screw plays only a very small part in holding the tension, the three bracket bolts should be holding most of it.

Either way, since it was designed to use the tensioning screw to set it I would use it.
 
All these p/s bracket parts are still available from the dealer. You probably only need the long adjustment bolt #8, p/n 34202480. But the yard is probably your best bet.

PowerSteeringBracket.jpg
 
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