Backyard Mechanic: Replacing the Idler Pulley Replacement
An idler pulley basically takes up space to make the belt turn in a certain area. An idler pulley assists in belt routing and tensioning within the accessory drive system. In other words an idler pulley takes up space to make the belt turn in a certain area. It aids in the function of air conditioning compressors, alternators, power steering pumps, and water pumps.
This is a part of the car that you never think of until it goes bad. The sound from under the hood clues you in to what is happening and then of course once the idler pulley freezes up (stops in its tracks) the belt snaps off of your car and you HAVE to fix it. Other wise no one will be moving that car except for a tow truck. I don't recommend working on your car unless you are at the least somewhat familiar with a motor. Once one thing goes bad something else is quite capable of happening resulting from or by even pure coincidence, happens while fixing the first thing.
Lift the hood and secure it. You are going to be under the hood so you don't want it falling on you. To replace the idler pulley you will need to know where the idler pulley is. Locate the belt. The idler pulley will be the mechanism that a belt would fit around and it no longer moves freely. Once you have located the idler pulley you will need a proper size wrench.
On some motors you will need to remove motor mounts and jack up the car. Again if this is not something you have done you may not want to tackle this.
Remove the bolt in the center of the pulley. Counter clockwise to loosen. Take out the bolt and place it where you can find it. (You are not supposed to have parts left over when you are done).
Pull off the old pulley and put the new one in its place. Put the bolt back in and tighten. Now that you have the new idler pulley in place the fun starts.
Before putting the belt back on check the belt to see if it needs to be replaced. If it does you should have bought one when you purchased the idler pulley.
Put the belt back into place following the diagram under the hood of the car. You will need a belt tensioner tool. You have to put the tool on the tensioner itself and you will need to look at the diagram to determine which one is the tensioner. Turn it to remove tension to slide the belt over the pulleys. Belt routing is critical so follow instructions on the diagram carefully. Once the belt is on all the way start the car and make sure belt routing is correct.
Published by A. Vee
Alan is interested in old cars, fixing cars, auto body work and his family. He has two beautiful children and a loving wife. View profile
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Post a CommentFor this article to be useful%2C the stupid Google ads need to be removed from the article. They are overlapping the article and important information cannot be read.