Idler Pulley Troubles

[AgPete139]

Has anyone had trouble with their idler pulleys shearing off?


Friday: Truck first make a slight squeal, once every 10 minutes. Very minor. Didn't think anything of it.

Saturday: Nothing.

Sunday: I was late for an appointment, and drove about 75 mph, mainly in 4th gear. Began to smell rubber, looked under hood, serpentine belt was fine and lined up.

Later that night, I was 2 blocks away from the route, and BAD rubber smell again. Stopped, belt was halfway on idler / idle pulley and halfway on A/C pump. Realigned as best as I could without my wrenches. Drove 4 minutes (2 blocks) home.


Open hood, missing belt and now missing idler pulley. I thought I could limp home.



It appears as if the Idler Pulley Bolt sheared off, in the hole (of the engine block).


Has anyone had a similar problem? I hope I don't need a bolt extractor or drill out the remaining bolt...


What a PITA now...looks like I'll need to remove the fan, fan clutch, radiator shroud, to get at it. The radiator, too, if I need to drill out the bolt.







Pete

 

[97RangerXLT]

Sounds like the bearing seized on it and when that happened the torque of the running belt snapped the bolt. (that was the squeal you heard and the smell of rubber.)

As for removing the bolt, you might have luck by getting a small chisel and tapping the bolt stud out.

Is this the idler pulley on the tensioner arm? or the fixed idler?

if it is the one on the tensioner arm, just replace the whole arm they are about 40 bucks at O'Reilly's and you don't have to deal with extracting the bolt.

AJ

 

[AgPete139]

Sounds like the bearing seized on it and when that happened the torque of the running belt snapped the bolt. (that was the squeal you heard and the smell of rubber.)

As for removing the bolt, you might have luck by getting a small chisel and tapping the bolt stud out.

Is this the idler pulley on the tensioner arm? or the fixed idler?

if it is the one on the tensioner arm, just replace the whole arm they are about 40 bucks at O'Reilly's and you don't have to deal with extracting the bolt.

AJ

Sadly, it's the fixed one at the engine's front, top center.

What do you mean by "tapping" the bolt out with a chisel?

I have yet to work on it. No time. However, I did get the new tensioner + bolt from Ford for $37 and a new belt from O'Reilly's.





.

 

[Psychopete]

That is going to be a bear . Not sure what would be best, I would probably shoot for a shit load of heat and an extractor. Had to get an exhaust stud out not long ago from an exhaust manifold. Thought for sure I was screwed since the others needed a lot of force, but I got it out eventually with enough time and heat.

Best of luck either way man, that really sucks if it's in the block..

 

[Big Jim M]

Howdy Pete
When a bolt breaks such as yours. It has been tightned holding a part in place. The piece of bolt between the head and the HOLDING threads has streached to hold that part in place. When the bolt breaks such as yours the part left in the engine is usually LOOSE and not really tightly held in place. Exhaust bolts are an exception to this rule.
So what we do is get a small chisel or even a small screwdriver and attempt to unscrew the part of the bolt left in there. Many times it simply unscrews easily.
There are also left-handed drill bits that can be used, which many times, simply unscrew the bolt part.
That is what we do down here in the desert! Upstate NY might be a different story alltogether. But since you are over there in Aggieland it might work.
Big JIm

 

[97RangerXLT]

Howdy Pete
When a bolt breaks such as yours. It has been tightned holding a part in place. The piece of bolt between the head and the HOLDING threads has streached to hold that part in place. When the bolt breaks such as yours the part left in the engine is usually LOOSE and not really tightly held in place. Exhaust bolts are an exception to this rule.
So what we do is get a small chisel or even a small screwdriver and attempt to unscrew the part of the bolt left in there. Many times it simply unscrews easily.
There are also left-handed drill bits that can be used, which many times, simply unscrew the bolt part.
That is what we do down here in the desert! Upstate NY might be a different story alltogether. But since you are over there in Aggieland it might work.
Big JIm

This is exactly what I was talking about.. Jim nailed the description right on the head. you might soak the broken stud w/ pb blaster if there is any corrosion.

AJ

 

[AgPete139]

Thanks guys for the commentary & advice!

I completely forgot about PB Blaster! (I don't how I forgot! I use it all the time.) But, I sprayed it, and let it sit for an hour. I tried a flathead screwdriver (my chisels are still at my buddy's garage) to get it, to no avail. It actually took a punch and 2 stiff hits with a mini sledge before it unthreaded like butter.

I was so prepared to pilot drill and extract the POS...sometimes a daunting task needs some TRS encouragement.

Thanks guys! Happy days...



Pete