Belt Tensioner & Idler Pulley

[comatose]

I had a squeak coming from my idler pulley that I sprayed some lubricant on, and it has gone away for the time being, but I still took it to the dealership to check it out. They recommended that I replace the idler pulley and belt tensioner. I hate the dealership near my house because they always seem shady to me. Two questions:

1 - Do you think its really necessary?
2 - It seems like something I could do myself. Is it a difficult job?

Thanks!

 

[DropTopPony]

you can do it. get a repair manual if your a novice. The ildler pulley is like $10 dollars if i remember correctly. I haven't changed the tensioner yet so can't give you a price. I will be changing with the new shortblock install.

 

[SigmaPride]

Changing the idler pulley is about as easy as it gets. Don't have to take the belt off or anything. Take it off and put the new one on and torque to 20 ft lbs or just tighten it with a socket wrench...just don't go gorilla on it.

I wouldn't mess with the tensioner if you know that its the idler pulley. However, the pulley on the tensioner is the same as the idler pulley(on the '99) so if you want you can take the tensioner off and replace the pulley with another idler pulley. Don't let them tell you you have to get a new tensioner unless it is bent or something. You will have to take the belt off for that one, but not hard at all either.

I have a '99 also and bought 2 idler pulleys to replace the idler and the one on the tensioner. In reality it ended up being my belt that was making noise, but at least i have new idler/tensioner pulleys now I guess.

 

[laxdman20]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if it was your tensioner. They do go bad. Its a cake job to replace, just get a haynes manual and you will be good to go.

 

[ninetyfiveGT]

I had a squeak that I got rid of by using belt dressing but then it came back . I had it looked at and it turned out it was a tensioner. I replaced it myself and it was so easy, took me like 5 minutes.

 

[HoustonGT]

Change the tensioner while you're at it. Its only another 5 minutes of work. I did it and it was very simple

 

[d98gt]

Old thread, but figured i'd just bump this one instead of creating another.

My car has 140k or so on it and the pulley for the tensioner is squealing. At first it'd only do it when cranked and would go away once ran a while, though now its squealing most of the time even when driving.

After a visual inspection, the tensioner itself looks fine and doesn't seem to have a problem at all, however the same can't be said about the pulley. It's loose and seems to be throwing my belt off a bit. Would me buying just the pulley ($15.99) be a problem?

I'd rather spend the $15 to fix a problem rather than $50+.

 

[StangPro]

I changed my idler to one off of an Intrepid. It's 6oz lighter and runs quieter. Oh, and I have about 100 of them laying around, which is really why it went on.

It seems the 99-04 idlers and tensioners go bad fairly often. Not difficult repairs.

 

[d98gt]

Guess i'll be buying just the pulley tomorrow

 

[COramprat]

The idler is easy swap. Try to buy an American one.