Lower idler pulley replacement

I can confirm that that tensioner pulley is a PIA to replace. I got mine done though.

 

Did you replace the whole tensioner assembly or just the pulley itself?

 

Guys I go through this at work allot...When you replace a belt you should clean all the pulley contact spots that the belt rides on.

When you remove your old belt, before putting the new one on clean all the pulley's.

Spray some brake clean just on the pulley contact surfaces

Rub your fingers on the pulley's if dirt comes off on your fingers u gotta clean the pulley surfaces again or your still gonna get the squeak noise.

Dirt= Noise

 

I agree 100%!

Before installing my new belt I took maybe 30 minutes and cleaned all the pulleys with brake cleaner and an old toothbrush. The results were worth it...

 

I replaced the entire tensioner assembly with the aftermarket one. Its was not easy.

 

Getting the same chirp, I was wondering if you could send a copy of your pdf. I'll try cleaning the pulleys first, but if that doesn't fix it, I will have to do go through the same stuff. Thanks.

 

On the todo list. Pretty sure its idler pully. Get loud squeeling when its raining and cold. Think it might also be the tension because the lower right hand pully (below altenator) is not rotating fully -start and stops frequently. Have 84k miles, should i replace the belt? What about waterpump or anything else?

 

Hey fellas, consider just replacing the bearing on your pulleys! My idler tensioner pulley was shot so I went to Autozone-Timken #203FF. $10.00, drive out old bearing with socket and hammer. Emory cloth clean pulley. Grease new bearing and press in.

Good to go!!!

 

I never figured out my squeaky serpentine belt. Traded in the Tacoma last December & moved on to a Tundra. Must have been a misaligned power steering pump or something. Tundra is mint & no squeaky belt!

 

Are you 100% that this bearing will work on all four pulleys on the Tacoma?

 

I bought 4 SKF 6203 and it fits on all.

 

Where they sealed ? (had rubber seal on both sides)

 

Yes, rubber sealed.
6203 2RS1

 

Well I replaced the belt about 2 months ago but my noise started about a week or two ago when it got really cold. Thought it must have been the belt. I stopped by Napa to replace the belt with another one and the guy was sure that it was not the belt. So long story short I replaced all idler pulleys and water pump.


Come to find out the water pump was not bad but was worn(140k) so replacing was not bad. But the noise came back. So I took it to a trusted friend and he found I was sold the wrong belt. This trucks require a 7 ribbed belt and I only had a 5 ribbed. So after all of that my problem was all in the belt.

 

I always thought a sealed bearing was pre greased

 

Is this how your guy's belt is sitting on the tensioner pulley:




Because this is how it is sitting on the idler#2 pulley:




I forgot how the belt sat on the old tensioner pulley.

 

So basically what you guys are looking at is that the belt is sitting further back the tensioner pulley.

 

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but wanted to correct this. The bearings would work if you already have replacement pulleys from gates etc. They come with bushings that allow this. With the OEM pulleys the bearings have a smaller inner diameter that is an odd size. So I'm off to buy replacement idler pulleys and next time I can save money and just get bearings. Going to try a 5203 for the tensioner and report back if that works.

 

Hate bringing this thread back but had a question and hoping somebody who has already done this install can help me out.
when I used the

$45 Gates 36174 Idler Pulley

Gates 36174 pulley on my truck's tensioner I noticed that the original bolt is a little short and the bolt that
came with the 36174 is too long. Anybody noticed this or found a solution? I mean the pulley fits but the original bolt doesn't screw far into the tensioner. The original pulley and bolt it seems like the bolt screwed about an inch into the tensioner and when you use the gates 36174 pulley that same bolt only screws about 1/2 inch into the tensioner. Just doesn't feel comfortable leaving it like that and need a second confirmation if that is a problem or not.

 

Stick with oem...I had same problem