Idler Pulleys / Tensioner Pulley / Serpentine Belt

You can remove the belt one at a time until the noise goes away; if the noise disappears, that is the culprit bearing, or belt. Before turning on the car, rotate each pulley to feel for grindiness; then shake the pulley back and forth to feel for play.

A little trick below can also be used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHtLH_m9gN4

 

Question...i have heard Toyota change the idler pulleys slightly so that you don't use all the dust washers. Apparently this was true for 5th gen 4runners. Has anyone else heard that for our 2nd gen Tacomas? I just had an OEM idler pulley (a #2, by the alternator) seize up and I had just put it in back in May 2020, re-using both the inner and outer dust washer. Am I not supposed to use one or both of those washers?
Thanks!

 

I just replaced mine back in July, Toyota told me there were updated part numbers for the washers, I only had ones that went on the outside of the pulley and my original oem ones were the same as well.

 

Awesome! Thank you very much! You just confirmed what I was suspecting...appreciate it!

 

I'll just add to this post (Again TY TacomaWorld ) that I too just installed the pulley's only (removed the tensioner pulley from the assembly in the kit) using the Gates 90K38411 Kit, from Rock Auto ($185.79 >>$207.44 shipped to St. Augusitne FL) and it was simple as all the videos and writes ups indicate.
I have no issues (knocking on wood) currently with the other accessories that need to be removed to get to the tensioner assembly bolts, so until I do, it will be on the shelf....

The SWEET sound -of NO sound- upon first start up was a Merry Christmas to myself, and truck...

 

Hello guys I have a question. I been having this whining noise thinkings it’s my pully I changed out my serpentine belt.

 

Hey Chuy, reviving an ancient thread, did you have to heat the OEM pulley up before inserting the new bearing? Thanks!

 

@10thMTNgrunt No, my 20-ton press had no problem pressing it in. It don’t take much effort. I’ve seen dudes on utube hammer it in - just hit on the outside edge of the race, not the center. Can also use a BJ C-clamp - again, press on outside edge of the race using a socket or grind down a bit the old bearing so it dont press in along with the new bearing.

 

Cool beans, thank you and much appreciated!

 

Just changed all serpentine idler pulleys 2005 v6 4wd double cab at 250k. There was much debate about a correct replacement for the tensioner pulley. I bought this one on Amazon that was an exact match.

 

Let us know how long that lasts.

 

Hang onto your old one and put a new bearing into it in case this one doesn’t hold up. It’s easy and relatively inexpensive to do.

 

I swapped out my idler pulleys and put in a new bando belt last week. I ordered an extra

$45 Gates 36174 Idler Pulley

Gates 36174 pulley thinking I could swap it with the pulley on the tensioner but the bolt and pulley were different sizes so I put the old pulley and bolt back on. Has anyone pressed the bearing out of a gates 36174 and pressed it into the stock tensioner pulley?

 

I just replaced the belt after 10 years / 59,000 miles. In spinning the idlers, I noticed that number 1 (lowest) did not make any noise but did not spin as freely as the other three. Anyone else notice this?

 

How "not freely" are we talking? Usually as the bearings age the pulley spins more freely, not less. And is this idler any older/newer than the others?

 

The best way to describe the lower idler is it would rotate say once for each "spin" whereas the others would rotate 2-3 times per spin. I bought the truck new in 2013. All idlers were original as was the belt.

 

I'd look at some options for replacement or bearing swap....peace of mind.

 

If you're not in an area where vehicles are prone to corrosion, 59K would be pretty low miles for an idler/tensioner bearing to go out. My guess would be that the lower one is in better shape than the other two, but in any case I think that's well away from the amount of free spin you'd start to worry about. If it was smooth and felt like there was no play, you should be good for a while yet.

My 2011 spent some time in the rust belt and the pulleys looked like hell, but only one bearing was clearly past due at 112K miles.

 

Thank you for the responses.

 

Yes, that is normal because that bearing is twice as wide as the others, thus it has a bit more rotational drag. The pulley may be the same width but if you look closely, notice how much wider the bearing sits inside the pulley. Matter of fact, you can press out the oem bearing from the pulley and press in two of the #2 pulley bearings. That’s what I did.