I talked to a guy on here awhile back about a wrench that he retrofitted on to his truck. All it was , was a metric wrench that went on head of the bolt on the idler pulley and bent up and back towards the firewall then bolted down. It kept the idler pullley from shakin like hell like they all do on these trucks. I'd like to get a picture of this or talk to him again. Anyone know him? I bet we have to replace out idler pulley, idler armature, and belt twice a year.

 

Pan,

What year is the motor? Serpentine belt? What type of belt tensioner do you have? Does it have a little shock absorber? I’ve got a 93 7.3 idi, I had issues with the belt coming off every few months, found out that the tensioner spring was worn out. The new style seems to have a lot stronger spring and the shock is no longer used. The part for my engine (I’m sure it covers all IDI Serpentine belt models) was “F4T2-6B209A” $92.87, this part will work with your existing air conditioner bracket, the parts book calls out an updated “number” for the A/C bracket but it the same casting number and machining. I did get tensioner from Napa but it looked like it came off of a GM car engine, they order another one and it was the same – not sure what happened with that, gave up and went to Ford… I also replace all pulleys and bearings when I changed out the tensioner to make sure there weren’t any damaged parts. I’ve got 15 months on the belt now and knock on wood it looks great!

On the lighter side – I can’t imagine the noise inside the cab generated by having the tensioner bolted to the firewall! I mounted an auxiliary vacuum pump (on rubber mounts) just under the cowling and it was so noisy in the cab that I pulled it out and put it on the shelf in the garage – best off with out brakes than to listen to that - LOL…

Good luck, 93

 

LOL, the wrench doesn't go to the firewall. It's just bent up and back towards it and bolts down on top of something on the motor. It's all serpentine. Its a 94. Non turbo. Whenever it breaks it's cause the damn cheap *** potmetal in the idler tensioner arm gives away and the whole idler arm/spring flys out toward the radiator. It usually always takes the belt and other idler pulley with it too. When the truck idles the idler pulley shakes even when brand new. Ours dont' have a shock absorber on it either.

Paul