there are no gaskets on a tension pulley ther is however a spring and yes it can cause the belt not to run smoothly
you have to remove the radiator and fans the main crank pulley and that should get you to the plastic cover take that off and then loosen the tension pulley and i would recommend changing the water pump and gasket at the same time
belt tensioner
replace the belt with a goodyear bet
Assuming you have a serpentine belt on that 3.3L engine, the tension on the alternator would be controlled by the idler (tension) pulley. The alternator is stationary.
Yes. I have had to replace tensioners for this reason.
you have to push down on the tension pulley, then you would get slack in the belt
The idler pulley on any vehicle is used to maintain the proper tension on the vehicle's belt(s). without it belt maintenance would be difficult.
depends on the car. Put a wrench on it and turn both ways till you see some movement. You can't really break anything but it shouldn't be difficult to turn at all even with the tension from the belt. I would think if the belt runs on top of the pulley it would turn CCW and if it runs below the buttom probably clockwise would release the tension.
Bicycles with external gears have two, one guide pulley and one tension pulley, both in the rear derailleur. Some bicycles have further pulleys on the frame for either the brake or the shifter wire to run over.
The water pump would be a standard rotation. The serpentine belt moves clockwise on the model truck which would make it standard not reverse. With a serpentine belt system like the one in the 2000 S10 4.3, any pulley that is grooved turns clockwise. Any pulley that is smooth turns counterclockwise. The water pump pulley on that S10 is smooth and turns CCW.
Sounds like water pump needs replacing The main pulley is near the top of the engine. The water pump is toward the front of the engine. It is possible that water appears to be leaking from this pulley, but there is a manifold gasket right above it. Double check to find exactly where the water is exiting the engine block. My first hunch is a leaking gasket.
the idler pully makes the tension. to remove belt you use a wrench push tensioner in a direction that would loosen the belt as if you were trying to tighten or loosen the bolt holding the pulley on. carefull high tension.