My '92 is starting to eat the fan belt at the idler,it has slowly over the past year been working its way forward,and now the belt hangs off the front of the idler pully and is starting to make contact with the casting,is this just a worn pulley?or does the entire idler assembly need replacing?thanx

 

I'd say you need the whole idler assembly. I don't think you can just replace the pulley, the bracket it's on is actually what puts the tension on it I do believe. From what I've gathered, this is a common problem, I'm sure someone else has more experience.

 

Take your belt off, then reach down and spin the pulley see if it moves at all other than spinning. You should be able to tell pretty easily if its just the bearings in the pulley or if the whole tensioner needs replaced.

On mine I could feel a flat spot in the pulley bearing and just replaced the pulley/bearing and left the rest of the tensioner. Much cheaper.

Aaron

 

someone reported a website that had a much cheaper assembly that was made out of solid metal of somekind that was super heavy duty. I'm trying to find it

brad

 

I had that symptom when I replaced my serpentine belt, I just bumped my thread (Serpentine belt problem) with the HD Goodyear idler p/n that solved my problem.

 

These plastic idler pulleys that are on our motors aren't worth a ****. Mine shredded the serpentine belt , which whipped on the Crank Position Sensor, causing the SEMC to lose it's signal, which in turn lost my charging system & air conditioner.

They don't sell the pulley in parts stores...if they did it woul probably b another plastic one...

Anyhow, my quick fix to this junk plastic ABS pulley was to remove it, chuck it up in the lathe, and use some emory cloth to sand it smooth and flat. I noticed that the pulley was worn on 1 side more than the other, so the surface was slanted. Which is what pushed the belt off to one side. So far it's been holding up pretty well...but I still dont trust it.

A grooved pulley would be best... I've been contemplating machining a billet aluminum grooved idler pulley to replace this plastic junk. I'm sure I could sell a handful of them...but I don't feel like making more than 1...maybe someone on here has the skills & machining equipment also...

 

I would go for a billet aluminum pulley as long as it had a bearing that could be removed with maybe some snap rings holding it in?

The pulley I replaced mine with I got from a parts store, and yes it was a plastic one. So we'll see how long it lasts, I am going to start keeping a really close eye on it!!

 

The problem is the joint where the idler pivots gets sloppy over time and causes the pulley to get out of line. This usually makes the belt walk back into the alternator, but sometimes it walks off the front of the A/C. Replace the whole tensioner and be done with it.

 

If you get on the passenger side and look at the tensioner, you'll most likely see that the pulley assemble, where it attaches to the rubber thingy, is warpededed. Said warpededness makes the belt track stupid, making it ride wrong on the other pulleys.

As wannadiesel suggests, replace it and be done with it. Throw the fragged belt in the tool box as an emergency replacement should you ever need it.

 

Replacing the whole thing is a great idea...but what about when that new one wears out?

I think an aluminum grooved pulley would be the best bet. It'd keep the belt from tracking, even if the tensioner assembly wore out over time.

Eh, just my $.02

 

A grooved pulley wouldn't help. The problem is that the tensioner pulley is sitting cockeyed because the pivot point of the tensioner is worn. A grooved pulley would just do a better job of guiding the belt off the rest of the pulleys.

 

Been there, done that, have the frayed belt in the tool box as a spare.

Mine started running one groove off on the A/C and ate the edge of the (brand new) belt and it turned out to be wear in the pivot of the idler assembly. The bearing was fine in mine. I replaced the idler assembly and it went back to running on track. A side benefit of the new idler was that it had a 1/2" square hole in it for a ratchet/breaker as opposed to the 3/8" hole on the old one. MUCH easier to remove the belt now.

 

Well I did replace the whole assembly tonight,it was worn in the pivot alright,the new dayco tensioner has a convex surface on the pully,so it actually trys to centre itself somewhat,and yes you use a 1/2" drive ratchet on this one.thanx for all the help.