plunger 85 protrudes outwardly against a chain not shown the wedge shaped blocks 84 and 94 move in towards the plunger 85 extending arms 95 and 96 prevent the plunger 85 from moving outward beyond the top of the inside of housing 80 the inward movement of the plunger 85 from the force of the chain is balanced or resisted by the frictional force created by the wedge shaped blocks 84 and 94 pushing against the plunger 85 and the force of a return spring 87 used to push the plunger 85 away from the housing 80 as the chain tightens spring 87 is located below the extending arms 95 and 96 fig1 illustrates the tensioner 5 in its outermost position when the chain is worn the mechanical tensioner 5 maintains the plunger position with a force of 50 lbs to 175 lbs provided by the wedge springs 83 and 93 creating a friction force this force pushes on the plunger 85 and will move the plunger 85 outward when the chain slackens to maintain an average force on the chain fig1 and fig1 illustrate the back and front of the tensioner 5 respectively more specifically fig1 illustrates housing 80 a tensioner face 89 and a snubber 97 of tensioner 5 in fig1 there is a housing 80 plunger 85 spring 87 face plate 88 tensioner face 89 and retention pin 99 and screws 98a and 98b to attach the cover onto the tensioner 5 another alternative embodiment is shown in fig1 in which the mechanical tensioner has a housing 150 and a plunger 151 this embodiment operates in substantially the same manner as the embodiment of fig1 but has a different configuration a cover 152 is attached.