- Sep 2, 2012
- 468
Question #3 in a series 
A short time ago while chasing a possible tranny whine that was annoying me, a thread on the OS led me to look at the Idler Pulley. I took the belt and the idler pulley off - sure enough there was grease all over the back side of the bearing seal, and the bearing felt rough and had trouble turning freely in my hands.
So I replaced it the next morning, and elected to go with the lifetime warrantied Gates Pulley (Napa PN 36227, $58 CDN) for the extra $26 bucks over the OEM type one they had in stock (the OEM style one didn't look like it had enough room to accomodate the OEM flat washer, the Gates clearly could). I also replaced the belt (other threads were absolutely spot on, EVERY parts supplier in my area wanted me to get the incorrect longer 915 belt, the 905 is right for the XL models, NAPA PN 25-060905) figuring to keep the old belt as an emergency spare.
As I am still trying to chase down engine noises that I think may not be normal, I was under the hood again yesterday and noticed the idler pulley had a slow lazy wobble to it as it rotated. No other video I have seen seems to exhibit this. One video took some extra precautions to ensure the flat washer with the slightly extruded center was correctly seated/centered. I pulled the new pulley off and examined it, reinstalled the old one (without the belt) and saw the exact same amount of play, decided it wasn't an issue and re-installed the new one.
Both the old OEM part and the new Gates have the identical NSK B17-102DG48 bearing in them (makes it hard to understand how one can be lifetime warrantied and not the other) but the Gates pulley is symmetric front to back (I could install it either way). The bearing itself seems to be pressed in to equal depths on both sides of the Pulley, the slight belt wear pattern on the pulley surface seems straight, centered and equal distance from both edges.
It's possible I overlooked something during installation, but it's so damn simple I just can't imagine what...any thoughts?
You can see it in the video at about the 1:43 mark (zero clue why this particular vid lost its audio)
[video=youtube;TaLxUUZCLD4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaLxUUZCLD4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
The Gates part from NAPA:
View attachment 22772
A short time ago while chasing a possible tranny whine that was annoying me, a thread on the OS led me to look at the Idler Pulley. I took the belt and the idler pulley off - sure enough there was grease all over the back side of the bearing seal, and the bearing felt rough and had trouble turning freely in my hands.
So I replaced it the next morning, and elected to go with the lifetime warrantied Gates Pulley (Napa PN 36227, $58 CDN) for the extra $26 bucks over the OEM type one they had in stock (the OEM style one didn't look like it had enough room to accomodate the OEM flat washer, the Gates clearly could). I also replaced the belt (other threads were absolutely spot on, EVERY parts supplier in my area wanted me to get the incorrect longer 915 belt, the 905 is right for the XL models, NAPA PN 25-060905) figuring to keep the old belt as an emergency spare.
As I am still trying to chase down engine noises that I think may not be normal, I was under the hood again yesterday and noticed the idler pulley had a slow lazy wobble to it as it rotated. No other video I have seen seems to exhibit this. One video took some extra precautions to ensure the flat washer with the slightly extruded center was correctly seated/centered. I pulled the new pulley off and examined it, reinstalled the old one (without the belt) and saw the exact same amount of play, decided it wasn't an issue and re-installed the new one.
Both the old OEM part and the new Gates have the identical NSK B17-102DG48 bearing in them (makes it hard to understand how one can be lifetime warrantied and not the other) but the Gates pulley is symmetric front to back (I could install it either way). The bearing itself seems to be pressed in to equal depths on both sides of the Pulley, the slight belt wear pattern on the pulley surface seems straight, centered and equal distance from both edges.
It's possible I overlooked something during installation, but it's so damn simple I just can't imagine what...any thoughts?
You can see it in the video at about the 1:43 mark (zero clue why this particular vid lost its audio)
[video=youtube;TaLxUUZCLD4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaLxUUZCLD4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
The Gates part from NAPA:
View attachment 22772
