Changing belt, worth doing the pulleys

[CTX-SLPR]

Howdy,

100K miles and just now changing the belt. Since it looks like a fun job, is it worth the time to replace the tensioner, pulley, and the idler pulley? Nothing is making noise that I can tell but again, it looks like a really fun job just to do the belt and don't want to do it again.

Thoughts?

 

[dNyce LS]

If you have the extra dough to spare then why not. Wouldnt hurt to.

The belt isnt hard to do on these cars

 

[CTX-SLPR]

I should point out that I have a V6.

 

[dNyce LS]

Unless the gen 2 v6 is very different than gen 1, its not hard. A little more than an 8 cyl., but not bad

 

[HyeLifeLS]

I am in process of changing the water pump, thermostate and the belt this weekend and the pulleys look great. There is no play and no noise. The only play i found is in the old water pump. I still have the original one. My car is an 01 V6 and I have over 215000 miles on it. Replacing it because there was a small coolant leak from the hose that connects to the pump. Got a new motorcraft one from rockauto for 96$.

I wouldn't mind putting new pulleys but don't want to wait for another few days for parts to arrive.

 

[Telco]

Regular metal pulleys without bearings don't wear out. Water pumps, on the other hand, do. If the water pump pulley is wobbling then the bearing is worn. Replacing the water pump will fix that problem.

The tensioner and idler pulley should be replaced as they are wear items.

If you were asking about underdrive pulleys, they are more trouble than they are worth, and are only worth it if you are looking for tenths of a horse on a max effort setup IMO.

 

[joegr]

Pulleys don't wear out. ...

Bad advice.
The bearings on the pulleys most certainly do wear out.
The tensioner arms (the spring part, I assume) wear out as well.

 

[Telco]

Pulleys were asked about, not tensioners. Pulleys are solid pieces of metal.

 

[trickett90]

Pulleys were asked about, not tensioners. Pulleys are solid pieces of metal.

The op was referring to the idler pulley and the tensioner (with pulley). I recommend changing them because like Joe said the spring in the tensioner wears out and will fail. Symptoms are a clicking or banging after startup during cold weather. This also causes the belt to move back and forth which can lead the belt to slip off of the idler pulley. The new idler pulley has a flange on the outer edge to help keep the belt on.

 

[Telco]

I see, my mistake. Yes, tensioners should be replaced periodically as well as anything with bearings.

 

[joegr]

I see, my mistake. Yes, tensioners should be replaced periodically as well as anything with bearings.

Yes, and the idler pulleys have bearings.

 

[BlackLS06]

The op was referring to the idler pulley and the tensioner (with pulley). I recommend changing them because like Joe said the spring in the tensioner wears out and will fail. Symptoms are a clicking or banging after startup during cold weather. This also causes the belt to move back and forth which can lead the belt to slip off of the idler pulley. The new idler pulley has a flange on the outer edge to help keep the belt on.

I agree with this post. It happened to me. Replace them all.

 

[Telco]

Same here. I've had a bearing sieze on an idler pulley and it sawed the pulley's retaining bolt in half before the belt could pop off. It was amazing how much power was freed up to the engine when the belt popped too.

 

[Jrt1418]

The op was referring to the idler pulley and the tensioner (with pulley). I recommend changing them because like Joe said the spring in the tensioner wears out and will fail. Symptoms are a clicking or banging after startup during cold weather. This also causes the belt to move back and forth which can lead the belt to slip off of the idler pulley. The new idler pulley has a flange on the outer edge to help keep the belt on.

I also had a tensioner spring fail, which led to the belt being shredded and wrapping itself in between the block and the crank pulley. The crankshaft seals were destroyed and it cost about 900 (with the tow) to have it all fixed. Needless to say, it made for a :q:q:q:qty day. Replace the tensioner just to be safe.