S40: Are this tensioner and idler pulley legit?

[kilou]

Hi,

I just bought a timing belt kit as well as an auxiliary drive belt with tensioner and idler pulley for my 1997 Volvo S40 2.0L (B4204S engine). The parts were supposedly manufactured by INA (Schaeffler group) who is also an OEM for Volvo. When I received the parts, they were all packaged in INA boxes. However the auxiliary drive belt tensioner and idler pulley were actually manufactured by Litens (with the tensioner being made in China...).

This is the tensioner:


and this is the idler pulley:


Do these look legit to you?

I do know INA is good but I never heard about Litens...and don't feel very confident about installing an auxiliary drive belt tensioner that was made in China either... Do you know if Litens is a reputable aftermarket company and if it is normal to receive Litens parts in an INA packaging? Parts were bought in an online shop in Germany.

Thanks!

[Dancake]

Litens make a lot of HGV engine pulleys. In my experience they are top quality and rarely give any trouble.

[kilou]

That's reassuring, thanks! But is this expected to receive Litens parts packaged in INA boxes?

[Dancake]

It's not unusual to get different branded parts in alternative packaging. What is important is the quality of the parts. The Schaeffler group which incorporates INA also works closely with other quality manufacturers, of which Litens must be one. There are many reasons why this happens, but you can rest assured that the end products are of no lesser quality than those supplied exclusively by each manufacturer.

[kilou]

Great, then I have more confidence in installing those parts. I was initially pulled away by that "made in China" stamp on the Litens belt tensioner.

Now I just hope this tensioner will actually fit my car because the tensioner pulley looks wider than the stock one. I remember that clearance was an issue when I changed the belt last time. It was tricky to get a spanner on the tensioner pulley's bolt to tension/untension the belt. The Litens tensioner pulley is wider by approx 2-3mm (the belt track is the same width as the stock pulley but the new pulley has a rounded edge that the stock pulley doesn't have) so I'll have to see if it still fits.

Anyways, thanks for the help. There's probably nothing to worry about then.

[kilou]

Actually, I also bought the timing belt kit from INA which included a water pump too. There is an INA stamp on it but the pulley is made by Italacciai which is an Italian (bearing?) company. While I trust the timing belt (INA), tensioner (AISIN) and pulleys (INA) in this kit, I'm not sure about that italian waterpump although it has an INA label. Do you think it is a quality part or should I just buy the genuine waterpump from Volvo? I think the genuine pump is made by AISIN...

[Dancake]

The original Aisin waterpumps are well built and have proven to be very reliable over the years. Italacciai specialise in waterpump bearings and I would be confident that INA wouldn't specify the use of poor spec bearings in parts displaying their name.

It is well documented on these forums that waterpumps should only be replaced with original Volvo or Aisin units, but that's not to say that there aren't alternatives that could perform equally as well. I have previously advocated the use of Volvo supplied or Aisin waterpumps. In saying that, there's an aftermarket waterpump on my own D5 at the minute and it has done 40,000 miles without issue. I would personally have no issue fitting an INA waterpump with Italacciai bearings.

[kilou]

Ok thanks. In fact, I did change the water pump with an original Volvo unit something like 15 years ago, back when the car was 225000km. Now the car has 395000km so that is only 170000km on that pump and apparently it is not leaking. But it is over 15 years old already (belt and tensioners were again changed at 325000km about 12 years ago but not the pump). So belt and tensioners are really due for a change now but I wonder if changing the pump is really necessary. From the km point of view, it should be fine but over 15 years of age is still pretty old for a water pump... What do you think?

Anyway, I would probably still get a genuine Volvo pump if I change it and try to sell the INA pump. I plan to keep the car for as long as she can go but don't drive very often nowadays and would not place too much money in it.

[kilou]

Actually I just found an aftermarket AISIN WV-001D waterpump for a third of the price of the Volvo genuine one. Is this the same pump as the one sold by Volvo? If it is, I might go with that one instead.