Tensioner Pulley 05 Tacoma 2.7 Liter

My 05 Tacoma now has 185,000 on it. I recently changed the water pump and installed a new serpentine belt. This morning I started it up and I noticed a squeal at approximately 2500 rpm. I drove the truck to warm it up and the squeal persisted. It was not belt chirp, it sounded more like a bearing. Now comes the fun part, troubleshooting this pig. I had a feeling that it was probably an idler pulley or the tensioner pulley. I watched some videos on UTUBE they the were okay, but I came up with a method that is safer than using a stethoscope or a long screwdriver to listen with because of the limited space between the fan and belt. This maybe old news for some, but I figure there is someone out that is not familiar with this method.

I used a 1/2" wooden dowel approximately 24" long. A smaller diameter is okay. Start the engine and very carefully slide the dowel between the fan and the belt so the dowel touches the mounting bolt head of each one of the idler or tensioner pulleys (one at a time). When I touched the mounting bolt on the tensioner pulley with the dowel I could feel the vibration in the dowel. I did the same to the two idler pulleys and they were smooth, no vibration. To back up my theory I shut off the engine and placed my hand on each one of the pulley mounting bolts and the tensioner pulley bolt was considerably warmer than the other pulleys. I changed the tensioner pulley, no more noises.

Tom

 

Where did you buy the tensioner pulley? I recently hat a coolant bypass replaced and the mechanic advised me to replace the tensioner and both idler pulleys when I could. He knows I can do the work myself. I want to be sure to get the best parts.

 

The replacement versus the original coolant bypass. It was located beneath the engine.

 

At this moment I have a new alternator ready to be installed so I thought it’s a good time to replace the pulleys he recommended

 

I got my parts from Rock Auto. (rockauto.com) Never had a problem with them