Hello everybody. I have an old BRP MP62 hotside on my 99. The old manual adjustment belt tension pulley failed and I want to replace it with an auto tensioner. These used to be available about 10 years ago, but I can't find one at this time. I did reach out to Tom at FFS, but he no longer has them. Does anyone here know where I can get one? Or plans on how to build one?

 

From my research, the auto tensioner that BRP used was this one: Dayco 89269 auto tensioner. You should be able to get one from Rock Auto or local auto parts store. I don't know what else you might need in the way of fasteners etc to get it to work, but that should give you the main piece. Good luck with it.

 

An Autotensioner really isn’t that fancy. it’s just a spring loaded arm, with a center hole to mount it. On the back, it has a peg. You’ll just drill a hole on your mounting bracket so the peg locks the tensioner in place and can’t spin around in circles. Mark it by putting a glob of paint on the peg, mount the tensioner and see there the paint tells you to drill. Exact positioning doesn’t need to be millimeter-levels of perfect. The tensioner itself should take care of that by its very nature.

you DO want to look at the fore/aft positioning of the tensioner’s wheel with respect to your belt so there’s full engagement. The tensioner we all know is made for 6-rib kits, if yours is 4, the positioning might be off. You’d have to solve that by hunting for the perfect tensioner, or DIYing it with spacers/washers. But you’d be a hero to the remaining 10 people that probably own such a kit!

Might make sense to spend a few more bucks at the local auto parts store rather than online. Your new friend can help you with returns if you try different tensioners. I find they’re more engaged helping you find parts if you tell them you’re test fitting a custom blower and you warn them you may be visiting a lot. If business is slow, some may help hunt around the back shelves just to have something to do. The humongous stores like Napa often have lots of inventory. The smaller stores may be pretty limited.