92 Sc400 Belt Tensioner

bleak20588 · April 22, 2008

I recently purchased a 92 SC400 with about 140k on it. The car runs fine and when idling I have no problems. After driving the car to work and back I noticed two problems.

One being that while driving my steering wheel feels stiff but not when I am at an idle or sitting still.

Second problem being that when I had just about made it home I began to lose my dash lights and radio as I pulled up to my house. I put a battery charger on and my battery was just about dead. While at a stand still my alternator is giving my battery a charge as it registers at about 14.

I believe I may need a belt tensioner and I know that I need an ignition lock cylinder because mine is missing, although I dont think that has anything to do with my problem.

I took a look at the tensioner and is it as easy as taking the belt off and removing the two visible nuts and the one bolt at the bottom? After I did that it didn't seem to loosen up at all.

Let me know what you think..... Thanks in advance.

jzz30 · April 24, 2008

the sc reduces steering assist while driving at freeway speeds i dont think there is anything wrong with that. the tentioner may have another bolt or two. take a careful look. something may be covering it.

also your voltage regulator may be bad on your alternator or it could be a battery.

xaine · April 25, 2008

occasionally , if the battery has a dead cell, it will pull so much from the charging system it will drop volts.

seen it happen

UCF3 · April 25, 2008

are your Battery terminals clean? I;ve experienced a moment when I though my Alternator was fried. Turned out the alternator was fine, the terminals had too much corrosion.

bleak20588 · April 25, 2008

occasionally , if the battery has a dead cell, it will pull so much from the charging system it will drop volts.
seen it happen

Brand new battery and terminals, previous owner just had them replaced. I think he was looking for this problem. I am having the tensioner replaced and going to go from there. 70 bucks for the tensioner and I was able to push the belt down and move the tensioner with minimal effort. I'm hoping that is the problem.