Serpentine belt and Idlers

My new Gates belt that was put on by a repair shop started to fray after a month so I put the old Toyota belt back on which was not too bad to begin with except age. All the idlers spun nice and quiet except the bottom idler which did not spin as freely but no noise. It is the one below the tensioner. Is that normal for that idler? I did learn how to put the serpentine belt on today. It is a maze to take off and on. Glad I had help from the group with a Youtube video sent my way.

 

Seems odd that a new belt frays immediately but your aged belt still works fine, no issues. Sorry I don't have much to say about that. But I don't think any of the idlers or other pulleys should spin freely. If you spin them and they keep going round for awhile then they are worn and should be replaced soon, not super urgent but it is easy to do and relatively inexpensive. (Most bearings require some kind of pre-load, including these, plus they run grease inside which has slight drag.) Glad you're getting some practice removing/mounting the belt, it's a good skill to have on the side of the road.

 

A new Gates belt isn't going to fray in a month unless there is a real problem somewhere. Or, it may be possible that the shop didn't center the belt properly on the grooved roller of the alternator, cooling fan, etc. Post pictures of frayed belt so we can see how it frayed and help diagnose the cause.

 

That bottom idler, next to the AC, is twice as wide as the other two idler pulleys; so, it will have a little more drag. It should spin smoothly, with no grinding, and should have no play. Gates belts, in general, are good quality belts. The fraying could be a bad install, as mentioned, or you were given the wrong size.

 

Now that you know how to install put a new one on, my pulleys were making a racket, when I had it at my mechanics for something else he cleaned and lubed the pulleys? He didn't go into detail what he did but the squeeling stopped

 

Any recommendations for the best/proper wrench to do this job.