belt screeching badly
Thread Starter
|
Senior User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: Cheswick, Pa.
belt screeching badly
"99 Ranger 2x4 3.0 liter, 75,000 miles
Changed serpentine belt 10.000 miles ago. Now I feel some play in the idler pulley. Should there be any play at all? If no, I'm going to replace it. Never have done this job. Do they sell you a whole pulley or just a bearing or what? I have my sockets ready and a cheater pipe. Just want to know what to expect before I start. Advance Auto Parts is right down the road, so that's who I use.
Changed serpentine belt 10.000 miles ago. Now I feel some play in the idler pulley. Should there be any play at all? If no, I'm going to replace it. Never have done this job. Do they sell you a whole pulley or just a bearing or what? I have my sockets ready and a cheater pipe. Just want to know what to expect before I start. Advance Auto Parts is right down the road, so that's who I use.
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 623
Likes: 0
From: Blytheville, AR
I would imagine no play whatsoever since the serp does go from the crank to the cam (if I'm not mistaken) and you want complete accuracy in the combustion process. There's not a margin for error with the valves opening/closing and the position of the pistons. Just my opinion.
Thread Starter
|
Senior User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: Cheswick, Pa.
Mission accomplished
Changed idler pulley this AM without too much trouble. I used a screwdriver to pry the belt back on the alternator pulley while my daughter moved the tensioner with a cheater pipe over the ratchet handle. When I turned the key, the singing belt was audible but now at a lower decibel level. Back to the parts store I went and got the tensioner pulley. Once it was installed the silence was very satisfying. The two pulleys had been singing a duet. Won't have to do that again.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,205
Likes: 0
Trending Topics
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 8,462
Likes: 4
From: Durant, OK (SOSU)
FTE Stories
Ford Trucks for Ford Truck Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Ford Trucks Ever Sold on Bring a Trailer
Joe Kucinski
2027 Ford Super Duty Buyer's Guide (Every Model, Engine, & Package)
Brett Foote
Top 10 Ford Truck Tragedies
Joe Kucinski
AEV FXL Super Duty - the Super Duty Raptor Ford Doesn't Make
Brett Foote
Lobo Vs Lobo: Proof the F-150 Lobo Should Be Even Lower!
Michael S. Palmer
Ford's 2001 Explorer Sportsman Concept Looks For a New Home
Verdad Gallardo
10 Best Ford Truck Engines We Miss the Most!
Joe Kucinski
2026 Shelby F-150 Off-Road: Better Than a Raptor R?
Brett Foote
2027 Super Duty Carhartt Package First Look: 12 Things You NEED to Know!
Michael S. Palmer
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,851
Likes: 111
From: SW Va
Billj6, good to see you got her fixed & just in time for Christmas too, what a nice present, Silence Is GOLDEN!!!! lol
Yup there shouldn't be any play/wobble in the idler or tensioner pulley bearings as you've discovered.
To add to Bills good suggestion about the breaker bar in the tesioners square hole, to relieve it's tension for easier future belt removal, I'd also add, FIRST route the belt over ALL the "walled/lipped pulleys, then make the smooth lipless idler pulley the last one, to slip the back side of the belt onto.
Doing it this way, one will be less likely to damage the belt, because you don't have to PRY it on over a lipped pulley, so it's a MUCH easier task, such that one person can do it easily!!!!
Yup there shouldn't be any play/wobble in the idler or tensioner pulley bearings as you've discovered.
To add to Bills good suggestion about the breaker bar in the tesioners square hole, to relieve it's tension for easier future belt removal, I'd also add, FIRST route the belt over ALL the "walled/lipped pulleys, then make the smooth lipless idler pulley the last one, to slip the back side of the belt onto.
Doing it this way, one will be less likely to damage the belt, because you don't have to PRY it on over a lipped pulley, so it's a MUCH easier task, such that one person can do it easily!!!!
Elder User
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 576
Likes: 0
From: crete, illinois
this is such a common problem. if anybody else has this problem i would start with the tensioner first. i started with the belt then the idler and it wound up to be the tensioner as it has with alot of us.