A/C Idler (?) pulley resists turning by hand... burning belt.

[ChillPhatCat]

First off, is this what the pulley above the A/C compressor is called or something else?

I started smelling a burning serpentine belt a couple days ago when it was raining and thought, perhaps the old belt has stretched enough that a little moisture is causing it to slip. So I got a new belt and slapped it on there... seemed to be running right so I called it a day. Well it's definitely still burning, not enough that I can smell it driving, but certainly enough that the smell floats around the car for a minute after I shut it down.

Anyhow, I spun all the pulleys by hand today and they all spin like a top except for this pulley above the A/C, it spins smoothly but takes some effort and won't spin by itself. I am assuming it's supposed to spin freely like the others right? Can I just take this pulley to autozone and match it, or do I need some special part number? And one last question, are the pulley bolts normal threaded or reverse threaded?

TIA

 

[bhuff30]

Yes, replace that idler pulley because it should spin freely. I would also recommend replacing the belt again because it was slipping and getting hot. If not, at the very least inspect it very carefully before throwing it back on.

The pulley bolts should all be normal right handed threads. The only left hand threads I can ever remember seeing were on a fan clutch, where the fan was driven by the crankshaft, but that obviously wasn't a 4.6.

 

[ChillPhatCat]

I was on the fence whether to do it now before class or this evening... just ran over to advance and got the pully. I just finished replacing it The old one's bearings are definitely shot. So hopefully it fixed my problem.