Idler pulley disintegrated last night

[AFL in NJ]

I know its very common for the P/S bracket, or the un-pinned crank bolt to come loose, but I hadn't heard of anyone having the plastic idler pulley sieze and self destruct....am I the only one?

I'll order a new one and new serpentine belt and should be back running shortly after the parts arrive.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[vancouver-gts]

Idler pullies have self lubricating bearings .When the grease inside the sealed bearing escapes or washed out ,this can happen to any car.Normally the problem starts with a slight squeek and it's time to replace.How many miles you've got on it ?

 

[AFL in NJ]

Dear Vancouver-GTS,

It's got 62,200 miles and it went pretty much instantly, no real squeak at all....then again, I've been listening to a KISS box set once I get out on the highways near me....so maybe I wasn't hearing it at idle when the music was off and it might have been marginally apparent at speed.

Parts ordered, the tensioner w. pulley (they don't come separate) will arrive tomorrow, the belt in 3 - 5 business days.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[EllowViper]

Gernaded mine on my 5.9 Magnum...100K mikes and was able to just put a replacement pulley and belt on it...didn't need to replace the entire assembly. I think $20 bucks or so plus a belt. It was squeeling for a few weeks. I spray lubed it as a bandaide fix, forgot about it, and it disentigrated on my wife. She came driving on in one afternoonwith it making a hellatious noise and the belt was spinning on the bolt shaft where the pulley "had" been. Not sure how far she had driven it...couldn't have been too far. Lucky fix.

 

[plumcrazy]

i searched and 2 or 3 guys who replaced it but no problems. i did have one on my 5.9 like ellow did but never heard on a viper but not too many with miles on it either

 

[vancouver-gts]

.

Parts ordered, the tensioner w. pulley (they don't come separate) will arrive tomorrow, the belt in 3 - 5 business days.

Regards,
Aaron

Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to check my pulley and replace the bearing if it's iffy. Sounds crazy they want to sell pulley and tensioner as a unit , unless the spring in the tensioner fubard . I replaced the pulley bearing on my Mustang once .Bearing cost less than $10 dollars from whole saler. Complete pulley/bearing from dealer was $ 36 .

 

[AFL in NJ]

My plan will be to find another pulley once the car is back running again, so I'll have a spare.(putting the entire new assembly on the car (pulley and tensioner))

I'll update this thread with a part # of the replacement pulley once I figure out what the pulley is (diameter, width, # of ribs) so that we have this as a reference going forward. The ironic part is I have a spare water pump and belt (which would have been nice to use now instead of ordering a new one) at my condo back in Michigan, but of course now I'm in California and in the process of moving, so all my spart part hoarding didn't help me at all in this scenario....I just have to laugh at myself.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[Fatboy 18]

If you decide to go for a billet aluminum pulley, make sure your bolt is long enough Its a 3/8 UNC Bolt

Checkout my pics on this link
http://forums.viperclub.org/rt-10-g...-doing-timing-cover-gasket-semi-write-up.html

 

[MattInNC]

Mine went out last summer. Lucky for me I was in town and was able to get the parts and belt fairly easily. About 60,*** miles when mine went out.

 

[Black Moon]

My gen3 started howling with only 13,000 miles. Pulley comes seperate on gen3. Checked with JonB and he had a used only (PM me for price). Bought new from Dodge for $82 complete unit. Found out later it was available seperate. Idler and tensioner use the same pulley (on a gen3).

Called Advance for you and they have a gen2 tensioner pulley from Dayco for $21. Serpentine by Dayco for $32.99. FYI

 

[AFL in NJ]

Dear Fatboy 18, Okay, that's good to know, I'll keep that in mind. I think the bolt on the pulley itself is fine, its just that plastic pulley melted into a gooey mess. I'll check my manual tonight to ensure I have the basic tools to do the swap of the tensioner assembly tomorrow night. (all my tools are still back in Michigan as well)

Dear MattinNC, okay, that's about the same as mine....so this is a normal lifespan of a plastic pulley.

Dear Black Moon, those are some seriously low prices, I think I paid $50 for the belt (worse yet cause I know I have one back in Michigan), and I'm sure it's made by Dayco anyway. LOL I'll post the part #'s once I'm absolutely sure everything matches....including prices too. We might as well benefit from this for GEN II owners who face a similar issue in the future.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[Black Moon]

I bought a Gates and I think it was $30 +/-. Got it from NAPA. I always check before calling the dealer after that experience. There are few parts available aside from the dealer but there are a few.

 

[Roysviper]

I had the idler pully come apart on the 1996 ROE GTS I had and I went to Advance Auto Parts in town and they had the exact same pully in stock, bought it for a few bucks, (cheap) and bought a new belt there also by taking the one I had with me as I had the 10 lb pully and didn't know what length I would need. They measured it and had the exact size belt in stock and I went back to the car put it on in a few minutes and was back on the road. The total price for the belt and pully was very cheap fix. I didn't even need a belt because it didn't get messed up but I wanted to put both new on anyway. (It seemed to me that pully is kinda universal part for other type cars, and it was the EXACT same pully I had on the Viper.) On the road again in about 1 hour down time.

 

[AFL in NJ]

I just went through the 2002 Factory service manual and it only mentions that the tensioner bolt to release the belt (already done when the pulley disintegrated) is a 15 mm bolt.....does anyone remember how many bolts and what size the heads are to remove the tensioner assembly? Because I don't have my tools (back in Michigan) I'll likely buy the tools to ensure I finish this job quickly without running back to the parts store. I plan to pickup some anti-sieze as I assume these are steel bolts going into aluminum block or cylinder head.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[Roysviper]

I just went through the 2002 Factory service manual and it only mentions that the tensioner bolt to release the belt (already done when the pulley disintegrated) is a 15 mm bolt.....does anyone remember how many bolts and what size the heads are to remove the tensioner assembly? Because I don't have my tools (back in Michigan) I'll likely buy the tools to ensure I finish this job quickly without running back to the parts store. I plan to pickup some anti-sieze as I assume these are steel bolts going into aluminum block or cylinder head.

Regards,
Aaron

I don't remember the size for the socket, but you don't need to replace the bracket, just the pulley....There is just one bolt holding that on and it takes a second to change it. Don't make it difficult on yourself. JUST change the pulley, NOT the whole assembly with bracket. Check your bolt size on the broke pulley and get a socket and wrench and you don't need any anti-sieze. I am just trying to help make it easy on you....

 

[Black Moon]

One bolt holds the tensioner on the gen3 (and most cars) and I believe it's a 15mm.

 

[AFL in NJ]

I just picked up the new tensioner/pulley assembly, it is one bolt out the back of the spring (obviously through an existing bracket) and a 15 mm nut, so I'll buy both short and long sockets.

As for the pulley, it is 80mm overall diameter, 32 mm overall with 6 internal ribs betweeen the two edge ribs.

Should be a reasonably simple uninstall/install.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[2000_Black_RT10]

My gen3 started howling with only 13,000 miles. Pulley comes seperate on gen3. Checked with JonB and he had a used only (PM me for price). Bought new from Dodge for $82 complete unit. Found out later it was available seperate. Idler and tensioner use the same pulley (on a gen3).

Called Advance for you and they have a gen2 tensioner pulley from Dayco for $21. Serpentine by Dayco for $32.99. FYI

A few weeks before winter hibernation, mine sounded like I had a supercharger whirring when it warmed up.... Had a gut instinct it was the tensioner going and the pumps (water and steering) are ok, mind you I just put a new belt on when going to a billet power steering pulley and bracket from JonB.

Thanks for posting the info Sal and the post AFL as a reminder to get it done before spring,
Mike