Idler pullley pushing belt away?

[mxsuprastang]

Hey guys, I seem to have run into quite a pickle. It seems that the idler pulley is pulling the belt away from the motor only to have the alternator pull it back into sync with the rest of the pulleys. It's almost like the idler pulley isn't sitting straight and is rocking. Worst part is, we replaced the old idler pulley cause the bearing was bad. It was obvious that it was wearing down a certain way to tell us it wasn't sitting straight. Now, with a new pulley, the problem isn't fixed...maybe something else? Anyone had any problems similar to this? Usually stuff like this happens with the tensioner, not the idler pulley, which is really weird!

 

[lordgufi]

check whatever comes just before the idler... it may be causing your problem instead.

aside from mebbe the bolt holding the idler in being bent/loose i dont know how the serp belt would move around.. there are alot of ribbed pullies to keep it straight ya know?

 

[mxsuprastang]

That's what's weird. If I'm not mistaken the Tensioner comes before the idler pulley. The tensioner is new as well.

 

[uncltrvlnmatt]

Did you replace the belt when you replaced the tensioner?

 

[mxsuprastang]

yep. Replaced belt, tensioner and Idler pulley at the same time

 

[DropTopPony]

How long has it been since replacing the idler? Did you get a steel replacement or another aluminum? The aluminum is prone to bending.

 

[duff daddy]

+1 W/Bob

 

[MustangChris]

how do i tell the difference between steel and aluminum? i got a napa "OEM" one... lol.

 

[DropTopPony]

bite it like gold

 

[MustangChris]

yea? and my blood will be a different color on one of them? lol.

 

[Willis_98GT]

dont let the belt come out of sync for too long.. when it snaps its not good.. i went threw 2 in a month of each other from having a bad tensioner/idler..

 

[DropTopPony]

yea? and my blood will be a different color on one of them? lol.

Gold is soft thats why the old timers bite it.... aluminum is soft also

My Steel tensioner is brighter then my aluminum one and heavier.

 

[mxsuprastang]

Well, if anyone was still curious, we found the problem. When everything first happened, it was nighttime, which would explain why we couldn't see what was causing the pulley to be so out of place. Today, I was spraying brake cleaner around the engine to get it cleaned up from the belt shredding and f'ing up my underhood styling. When lo and behold a small, hairline crack (yes CRACK) was found just behind the idler pulley on the Timing cover. So, since the metal is cracked, the pulley (with all the force of the timing belt) pulls forward because the timing cover is no longer stable. So now we gotta call Ford and see how much the part costs (prolly around 200 bucks) and then go through the process of removing ALL the whole front of the motor....yay? lol anyways, thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it!

 

[vermilion]

what year do you have? i have a romeo cover if you need one.

 

[mxsuprastang]

97 GT

 

[DropTopPony]

you can find the front covers fairly easily on ebay and junk yards for no more than $50.

 

[mxsuprastang]

well due to the fact that its such a big job and an important part, I don't wanna skimp on price too much ya know?

 

[DropTopPony]

Its not that big of a job, don't get abused by the parts dept at the Dealership. They might not even sell new timing covers at Ford for a 97...

Get yourself a repair manual and take your time removing the accessories and get new timing cover gaskets and some RTV to seal it up. You can rent any tools you don't have and take pics so you know where everything went.

 

[mxsuprastang]

well my dad's a master tech for 35+ years, so I trust his judgement. He says the part will be close to 200 bucks and a good "all-day" job. He's been wrong before, of course, but seldomly.