Where did you get pulleys and a tensioner that cheap from?

My local mechanic for the pulleys (good bloke, sold me the new belt for $30 too! - A six pack for him at Christmas) , the tensioner from a local wrecker.

Because it took me three goes to find a straight tensioner, I would think this is a common problem on the 6's.

it is a common problem.. and there's no aftermarket solution for the i6 either.. just have to continue replacing them when they s**t themselves

you can just put in some very thin washers in the lower two bolts of the tensioner, i'm talking 1-2mm max thickness washers.

sounds dodgy but my el has now done 40,000k's and the old ef had done over 50,000k's with the washers in place and have had no dramas.

fastxr i havn't read the full thread, but if the noise is audable at idle then take the rocker cover off and start the car and try and pin point it, oil won't splatter every where at idle.

nah the noise only comes in at a specific rev range, around about the 2500-2800 rpm mark, which is almost every gear change...

if i hold the revs at that point it will rattle continously until the revs either increase or drop down from that rev range...
wouldnt want to rev it that far with the rocker off!

so lets say if i rev the engine to 5500, the rattle will kick in at 2500-2800 rpm, then dissapears all the way to red line, then i take my foot off the throttle and as the revs come back down it will rattle in that 2500-2800 rev range.

it must be cam related, but i dont know how, what or why...
im running a stage 3 cam, starts making power between 2700-3000rpm
dont know the specs off the top of my head, but has 0.525" lift with a duration that gives my ecu some serious head aches [/quote]

i know this is an old thread but it may help as i had the same noises and replaced idler pulleys where were stuffed and you guessed it the noise was still there and sounded like stuffed timing chain

turned out it was the water pump bearing - no leaks just a stuffed bearing

now its all sweet and quiet

it could be a long shot but there is a wire type mesh filter in the tensioner
maybe its blocked and is not getting oil..

my bro inlaw use to work at ford when the e series were a few years old and he said every time they did a timing chain or head gasket under warranty they would remove the little filter in the tensioner as they are known to block up..