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Originally Posted by Didydog
Hhmm, It sure was a bear to get the pin back in.
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If it was hard to compress then that's a good sign.
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When I was pushing it in with a vise, I didn't see any oil coming out of it.
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Also a good sign (unless its empty
but if it was hard to compress then that's not the case).
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It seemed fine. Do you know any way of knowing when it is going bad?
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Unfortunately the workshop manuals are pretty lightweight on that. The manual for my K5 engine just defines a piston rod extension length (and its not clear to me what failure mode that's even supposed to represent).
The simple test, based on what they are supposed to do, is that they show high resistance when an attempt is made to compress them quickly, exhibit only spring tension when compressed slowly, and spring out rapidly when released.
However a reading of the Gates' website suggests these tensioners have a dynamic response that's carefully calibrated for each engine design, and any wear (implicitly undetectable by any simple test we can do) can alter that. That the tensioner has this non-linear hydraulic setup at all says that these rubber belts must have the potential to resonate & flail.
So in short, I'd say the only way you could know that its going bad is by replacing it unfortunately. Gates say you should change it each time the belt is changed (though cynics would say 'they would say that'). I didn't replace mine when I did the front TB.
I'm not familiar with the 35D engine, can you easily run it with any belt covers off? You could check for any signs of movement. On the K5 engine the RH cover on the front TB can be readily removed & the belt observed while running, steady as a rock on mine when revving the engine, so I figure mine is fine.
As a aside, what I didn't realise until I read the Gates website, is the importance of compressing these things slowly so as not to damage their non-return mechanism, and giving the oil time to flow through the restriction. (I took about 5-6 mins to compress mine). In your case though, there's been no increase in the sound you are hearing after replacement, so that's not a factor. (And of course this assumes its the TB making the noise and we don't even know that that's the case).
05 Sedona has intermittent sound from front of engine
). From reading your post, I believe your are capable of the job which is not extremely difficult with direction in the forum. I just copy a section of my maintenance record to show you it is not expensive at all for the parts: 
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