I don't drive my car everyday, and I find that after I let it sit for a few days, the engine will occasionally make a tapping/rattling noise for about a second after it fires. (For the first few minutes after startup, the engine also seems to be louder than usual.) It doesn't happen every time, but I still dislike the notion that something is awry.
It's not quite the longer and sharper rattling noise I recall when I first replaced the failed original old-style tensioner many years years ago, but the circumstances are similar enough to suggest that my current 50k mile tensioner is done.
As I look through the options, they run from ~$42-50, so there isn't a huge price difference, but hey, every $ counts, as well as the shipping cost/time factor.
The parts houses offer a choice of Febi and Ina. Does anyone know which maker is OE? The place that sells the latter states that it is "an OE suppler", and it's cheaper to boot, so I'm inclined to go for the Ina. I lean against the OE part since it would take longer/farther to order, and I'm not about to pay the local dealer ransom.
Thanks.