Idler Pulleys / Tensioner Pulley / Serpentine Belt

I guess the inside diameter is the hole size. I’ll have to measure that. I can’t tell if it’s 12mm or 17mm from the pics.

 

What is the reason that a Gates lower idler pulley (36174) wont also work as a tension pulley? Sounds like just the offset is slightly different but the belt still fits. I’m reading online that folks have used them as tension pulleys.

 

I'm replacing my pulleys. I have a question regarding the

$83 Gates 38411 DriveAlign Automatic Belt Drive Tensioner

Gates 38411 tensioner pulley assy.. Do they use the 36174 pulley on their bracket?

 

The Gates tensioner does not use 36174, it uses a different pulley with a shallower offset. The 36174 will stick out too far and, as far as I know, there's no fix for that. Per threads on this forum I ordered the Febest for my '06 Tacoma and installed it today. It (and the other idlers) fixed my squealing and chirping. Third vehicle I've done this to, two Tacomas and my 4runner.

 

X2 on just swapping out the bearings. Super easy and very cost effective.

 

Because of the offset, the bolt will engage with half the threads. Yes, folks have used them; it's a gamble I wouldn't recommend when it's so easy to just replace the bearing or get the Febest pulley if your pulley is damaged.

 

Just went through replacing mine, i thought id have to replace the entire tension assembly, but it turns out that the bearing itself can be replaced in like 10 mins. 15/10 easy job. I bought the 36174 and realized thats for the bottom idler pulleys, so i went back and got the 36173 and it didn't fit the idler pulley but it fit the tension pulley (both needed to be replaced anyways).

 

So I replaced all the idler pulleys and the tensioner pulley with advice from this thread. I was noise free for about six months there. Lately on cold nights, I started to get a squeak again for about 5 minutes. I used a stethoscope to track down noise. I'm not getting any noise from the new pulleys, power steering or the alternator. I can't find a non-moving part to listen to the water pump but that's my guess. Here's the video. At 134,000 miles any ideas as to which is the next likely culprit? Would it sound like this?
https://youtu.be/s-PYXL5wJnM

 

check your heat shields on the exhaust.

 

Thanks for the advice. Im going to try that tomorrow. And also try spraying water on the belt from video by ChrisFix. My noise does sound a bit like that, so maybe its the belt or pulley misalignment. 6000 miles on a new belt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEUe6uKxTv8
Also, anyone good with photos should probably update the serpentine belt image/diagram and put at the top of the thread to reflect new knowledge in the tensioner pulley area.

 

I am not too far away for replacing my idler pulleys, belt, and tensioner bearing. From what I gather on this thread is there is not direct pulley replacement for the tensioner ? My tensioner is good but I want to change the tensioner bearing if I'm going to replace all the pulleys. I was going to get the gates idler pulleys and get the Nachi 17x40x17.5 bearing to use in the tensioner pulley. Is there a write up on how to replace the bearing only in the tensioner pulley ? TIA

 

You didn't look very hard, because the answer to your tensioner pulley question is 7 posts up.

 

I did see the post about the FEBEST pulley but don't know the quality of the bearing compared to the NACHI bearing ? How's the FEBEST bearing holding up ?

 

Good so far, and I bought it based on others' recommendations. I am looking to get the Nachi bearing as a backup since I have three trucks with the 4.0.

 

Fwiw Using Chris fix video I figured out it was the belt. Noise stopped as soon as I sprayed it with water. Pulleys are fine. For reference, you can hear the noise in my video from an earlier post (#169). New Dayco belt with 5000 miles. On the hunt for a gatorback belt now. Word to the wise, the noise may not be your pulleys.

 

DONT get the gator back they're garbage

 

Good to know.

 

I put a Bando belt on mine and it is awesome and I believe Bando is the OEM belt maker. I replaced my belt at 120K and the old belt still looked good, I saved it as a spare.

$20 ban.do 7PK2120 OEM Quality Serpentine Belt

https://www.amazon.com/Bando-7PK212...2010:toyota:tacoma&keywords=bando+belt+tacoma

 

Has anyone tried Dorman brand pulleys? Looking to replace the three idlers when I do my serpentine belt just as a little PM while in there... got an OEM belt from stealership for $50. Quoted $89/pop for upper pulleys and $101 for single lower

 

Hey folks, I went the OEM parts route today. My local Toyota dealer actually had the parts better priced than any of the other places listed. Not all parts on hand, but they had them within 24 hours and local pickup was sure nice.

https://parts.stevinsontoyotawest.com/

A few comments about the OEM route - and yes this may be mentioned above, but as I was first reading all this on my phone rather than with a computer, I may have missed it - when using OEM parts with the stock tensioner, neither the type 1 nor type 2 pulley fits on the tensioner; also Toyota does not sell the tensioner pulley alone, just with a new OEM tensioner. Toyota has a boss on the tensioner the pulley bearing ID rides on, so it is bigger ID than the other 2 types of pulleys.

Which pulley was bad you ask? The very bottom one, which makes sense given its location and exposure to the elements. The belt? It looked pretty darned good for 100K miles, with just a few cracks. I'll be more confident taking it on the road with the new belt.

Now let's just hope it wasn't one of the accessories that was squeaking at sub 40 degree temps; we have cold weather coming so I'll test it this weekend.

Lastly, because of the aforementioned details re: the tensioner pulley, I have an extra brand new 16603-0P030 pulley sitting here in the box that needs a home, and I'm too humiliated to return it to the parts guy who told me three times it would not work

Would anyone like this one for $55.00 shipped CONUS? My newbie status won't let me post it for sale in the BST forum. PM me please if interested. Thanks.