Idler pulley #2 or lowest one on the engine of a 2017 tacoma sr5 4x4 replacement procedure

For some reason I don't recall seeing that cooler on my truck before, maybe l just haven't noticed it.

 

This reminds me of a comment/observation my father (EE/PE) once made. In the past, draftsmen were experienced craftsmen or aspiring engineers - who knew what the parts were and what they looked like. Today’s CAD operators have no idea and only go by the templates they have. Physical possibility is merely an afterthought for the implementation team. I would love to see what Toyota wrote for the service manual and book rate.

 

Potential hijack new dude question: How’d you know they needed replaced, were they growling, squealing, seized? Trying to track down an intermittent belt squeal on my truck and one of my idlers felt more wobbly than I expected (fortunately not this blocked one). At 90k.

 

It's part of the towing package. For your MY it was an option. It later became standard on TRDs if not all V6s. But if you have the towing package you should have it.

 

Well, that means I probably have it. I’ll have to take a look at it. Perhaps a shifted plate can be added to relocate it with enough clearance. Machined aluminum isn’t cheap, but worth the sanity.

 

Thanks for the photo. Why do you think you'd need to do a field repair on this? If the pulley squeals on the trail, let it squeal until you can get home. Do you carry spare idler pulleys on the trail?

Toyota is actually one of the better brands for serviceability compared to Nissan, GM, etc.

 

It’s not even that difficult. Just a little machinists work.

 

I’m looking for a used one to dissect, but perhaps it is even easier… is there an aftermarket cover for adding an oil cooler to non? Or is the housing different/blank on non.

 

Toyota is marching towards things being less serviceable... but I still find them better than many, by far. FWIW, the idler pulley located in that spot has a significantly wider/beefier bearing as compared to the other idler locations. Is it there simply because there's more load inbetween the crankshaft and AC pulleys? Or maybe they knew the replacement process was less than ideal, so a more durable unit is installed? I've been casually searching for something even heavier to mount there.

 

I have a non oil cooler bracket somewhere... fairly sure the pulley is not blocked by it.

 

Right l have the towing package so will have to take a look under the hood.

 

Are there replaceable gaskets behind the housing, if so do you know their part number?

 

4 orings, 2 sets of 2.

You can reuse them in a pinch.

 

Are they pretty universal in size? I have a multi pack of O-rings. I can't seem to find a part number for them.

 

No I’ve never been able to use universal on Toyotas. Re using is better that wrong.

 

…and not a single period was included

 

Mine is howling at startup so i'll be doing that next oil change.

 

Should that idler pulley spin freely with little resistance? That one on my truck spins but definitely has some resistance to it. It might spin about 1/4 - 1/2 rotation freely whereas the other 2 idler pulleys will spin at least 1 full rotation, maybe 2.

 

I did this job last week. It's not as bad as it appears. I drained the radiator and removed both rubber coolant hoses to the oil cooler but looking back now I think a person could pull this job off without pulling the hoses or draining the radiator. My idler was really bolted up tight from the factory. I was afraid I was going to strip the head off the bolt even with a 6 point socket but it broke loose first. Took a couple hours to do it but I was really taking my time and being careful.