[Nobody]

Needed to replace my belt, so I figured I'd replace the two side pulleys with the Gates 36173s and the lower one with the 36174. Due to the tension pulley assembly being a question mark (and no noise) I skipped that one.

Just to make sure I did it correctly....I reused the stock bolt for the 174. The one that came in the package had coarse threads. Stock bolt is long enough I'm assuming?

And for the 173s I did not re-use the stock washers. I just used the ones that came in the package. All ok?

As for the stock bearings--my FJ is an '07 and they're all sealed.

 

[Puck it!]

Needed to replace my belt, so I figured I'd replace the two side pulleys with the Gates 36173s and the lower one with the 36174. Due to the tension pulley assembly being a question mark (and no noise) I skipped that one.

Just to make sure I did it correctly....I reused the stock bolt for the 174. The one that came in the package had coarse threads. Stock bolt is long enough I'm assuming?

And for the 173s I did not re-use the stock washers. I just used the ones that came in the package. All ok?

As for the stock bearings--my FJ is an '07 and they're all sealed.

Anyone know if Toyota new bearings are sealed?

 

[Pumbaa]

OK, so Pumbaa has gone through 2 sets of factory idlers (both replaced by the dealer under warranty) but now that Pumbaa is out of warranty (over 100K) its time for sealed bearings...

So at the current time idler #1 (in between water pump and alternator on driver side) is screaming so I went to NAPA and got the 36173 to replace it.

PROBLEM: The factory bearing ID is 0.405" while the NAPA bearing is 0.665". Now its supposed to come with a sleeve (after ordering in 4, still no sleeve) the manager ordered in just the sleeve, well, with the sleeve in, the ID of the bearing is now at 0.445" which is still to loose for a perfect bearing fit on the bolt. Thats to much play!

So the question is for everyone that has installed these pulleys; did the sleeve come with the pulley and if so was it a perfect snug fit on the bolt or did you have some play???

NAPA also had the lower idler pulley in stock (36174), problem with this one is that the sleeve is part of the back spacer. I did see someone post that they used this one as the replacement for idler #1 however the spacing is way off. If I where to use this pulley, then the belt would ride a quarter way off, meaning the belt would be riding off the edge of the pulley...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Mutt9757]

The specs from one manufacturer to another do vary and sometimes substantually. When different companies have different tolerances + or - can be considerable. Having said that I hope everyone has been using antisieze compound on the threads of the bolts that screw into the aluminum block.

 

[Pumbaa]

Just got a call from the manager at NAPA. He got 3 of the 36173 pulleys in and all have (according to his measurements) the correct sleeve. I guess it was just my dumb luck to run into 4 pulleys that didn't.

 

[Sanderhawk]

Just got a call from the manager at NAPA. He got 3 of the 36173 pulleys in and all have (according to his measurements) the correct sleeve. I guess it was just my dumb luck to run into 4 pulleys that didn't.

So did you end up with the correct sleeves? Are they all good now?

 

[Pumbaa]

So did you end up with the correct sleeves? Are they all good now?

Don't know... yet.

While the NAPA Manager was ordering in those pulleys I was doing a little more research. The NAPA pulleys are ACDELCO products, priced at a wopping $49 out the door per upper pulley (did not check on the lower pulley price). Since a lot of people had a lot of good luck with rockauto.com, I decided to see what they have in stock. Now rockauto does have the ACDELCO pulleys that NAPA has but they also have GATES... I'm a big fan of GATES!
Never had any problems with any of my GATES products in the past and when I saw that the upper pulleys are priced at $$29 a pop and are sealed, well I ordered right away.

The upper GATES pulleys will be here tomorrow, I will post up after instal.

 

[Wikid]

I'll be watchin. I may need a replacement sometime soon. I just get a little whine when I first start up, or when it's humid out.
Good luck Dan
Just turning 100,000 miles and still on the original pulleys

 

[Pumbaa]

Pumbaa is once again quiet!

Today I got my two upper idler pulleys in from rockauto.com. Both had the correct sleeve and even had tighter tolerance on the bolt than the factory pulleys. If your wondering why I did not replace the lower idler yet, its because the Gates lower idler (36174) is currently on backorder...

This is mainly for the geeks and who ever is looking for more info:

There is some confusion, not only on the forum but in different year manuals as well, about which idler is #1, #2 and #3 so for the sake of making it simpler, I will stick to the terms of 2 uppers and 1 lower.

After doing some research and looking at all the types of idlers being offered for the FJ (ACDelco, Dayco, Gates, Goodyear and Koyo) I decided to go with Gates, mainly because I have had good luck with their parts in the past.

Here is a picture of my two upper idlers, the new black ones are the Gates and the two old silver ones are factory Toyota (Koyo):

In this picture you can also see the two sleeves that came with the Gates pulleys (to the left).

Also, in this picture you can actually see that the top silver one is the idler that failed. You can see the grease marks on it. This is a great way of telling if your bearing is bad. If you loosen the belt tension and spin the idler by hand, you can also tell that its bad because of its rapid stop. Also, when I was shaking mine, I could hear it rattle.

Here is a better shot of the bad bearing:

One of the biggest issues I ran into was that the sleeves where not the correct size for the FJ (mainly ordering the pulleys from NAPA, which are ACDELCO Pulleys). The measurements on both upper idlers where identical on my FJ:

UPPER IDLERS (Factory Koyo):
Bolt: 0.385"
Bearing ID: 0.405"
Pulley OD: 2.755"

CORRECT UPPER IDLERS (Gates 36173)
Bearing ID: 0.665"
Sleeve OD: 0.661"
Sleeve ID: 0.4" (thats 0.005" better than factory)
Pulley OD: 2.753"

If anyone cares, the actual part number on the pulley is: 6203LAX30
The actual part number on the bearing is: 118140910 (NTN Canada)
Sorry, got no part number for the sleeve itself.

On the factory setup, the bolt actually has a 'dust cover'/washer on it. I did read that some did not install it again but after a good cleaning and taking some measurements, I decided to put it back in. The center riser is a perfect fit on the sleeve so it will not damage the bearing and the OD is just perfect to sit inside the pulley, here is a picture of the parts:

Regarding installation, it is very easy to loose the sleeve or washer during the process. My recommendation is to put it together outside the vehicle (insert sleeve into bearing, lay the washer on top, insert bolt). Once in place, tighten by hand until snug (make sure that the bolt is 'inside' the pulley to confirm that the sleeve is set in all the way).
Rout belt, double and triple check to make sure that the belt is perfectly routed and seated on all pulleys.
Once all is good, torque idlers to factory specs.

Now torquing to 'factory specs' is an entire debate in itself! Personally, I torqued my two upper idlers to 29ft.*lbf, why because my FJ is a 2007 and from the 2007 Manual:

OK, OK, so I know this was way to long of a post! In simpler therms, this is my recommendation (for 2007, can't speak for other years):

 

[DEWFPO]

Mucho thanks for all the detail!

DEWFPO

 

[Pumbaa]

OK, so after reading so many threads my head is spinning...

Here is a compilation:
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/maintenance-tech/127154-idler-pulley-bearing-failure-what-do.html#post1877181

 

[Hemi71cuda]

OK, so after reading so many threads my head is spinning...

Here is a compilation:
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/maintenance-tech/127154-idler-pulley-bearing-failure-what-do.html#post1877181

Bookmarked! That'll come in quite handy when replacement time arrives. Thanks for putting the correct info together!:cheers:
Mods: Can this be put into the How-To Tech archive?

 

[andyknas]

Ok, so after driving a couple hundred miles in pouring rain, then about 15 minutes in some mud I've got screaming under the hood. Took it in to the dealer and they want to replace all pulleys, the tensioner and the alternator to the tune of $1000. after reading this thread it seems i can get the parts from rockauto for far less. Do I take the time to figure out which bearing is bad or just replace them all with the sealed units? It's not too dirty under the hood so I'm thinking it's probably just the lower bearing that crapped out.

Just under 100k and belt was recently replaced.

Once the screaming started, had to drive home another 300 miles and have driven another 100 after that. Is my car now a ticking time bomb?

Forum wisdom is appreciated.

 

[octa]

no, it's just screaming

 

[OlyWaFJ]

Andykas replace all the pulley's with parts from rockauto then see what the alternator situation is. I was told the same thing and it ended up being just one of the pulleys, the alternator was/is fine... Save yourself about $800 and do it yourself.:bigthumb:

 

[Pumbaa]

Ok, so after driving a couple hundred miles in pouring rain, then about 15 minutes in some mud I've got screaming under the hood. Took it in to the dealer and they want to replace all pulleys, the tensioner and the alternator to the tune of $1000. after reading this thread it seems i can get the parts from rockauto for far less. Do I take the time to figure out which bearing is bad or just replace them all with the sealed units? It's not too dirty under the hood so I'm thinking it's probably just the lower bearing that crapped out.

Just under 100k and belt was recently replaced.

Once the screaming started, had to drive home another 300 miles and have driven another 100 after that. Is my car now a ticking time bomb?

Forum wisdom is appreciated.

Its just making noise, I have driven months with the noise but replace it as soon as you can. Personally, I'd loosen the belt and check the pulleys to see which one is bad, my guess, you only have one or two bad and its usually the upper idlers that go first. Why the uppers and not the lower... from what I can gather its because the lower has a backspacer which is somewhat protecting it. The uppers have no back spacer and the water/dirt actually gets into the bearing from the back of the pulley, not the front.

 

[sdiver78]

Just got my bearings and new belt. Rock Auto was back ordered but found them on another site (always check resellerratings.com) and using a coupon from retailmenot.com, gates bearings and new gates belt delivered for $157! Hoping to replace them this weekend.

 

[Locked Up]

Well ... poo.

Working on my wife's 03 6cyl 4runner.



I ordered the pulleys from Rock Auto and got them all changed out. "Small" issue on the tensioner though.

While I was tightening it I must have stripped it out somehow. It was getting tighter than all of a sudden got waaay to easy. I backed the bolt out and it was full of threaded material from 2 threads.

I removed the washer to give the bolt more depth and I ended up getting the pulley on. It seems like it's on there tight now. I was able to put enough torque on there to get the belt on and off so it's not like it is completely stripped out. It seems tight but it makes me nervous because it's her car.

Since we leave for thanksgiving this week I don't have time to order more parts and try to fix the tensioner myself .... anybody have a guess what the dealership might charge to replace the tensioner unit?

It purrs like a kitten now with the new pulleys too. Dang shame I overtightened it and will now probably spend even more to get it fixed at the last second.

 

[Locked Up]

Just got back from the dealership.

They quoted me $650 to replace the bracket and do the work.

They said they took it apart and there were no threads left. So I can't drive it home now or it will probably grenade. Also means I can't bring it any other place.

I told the guy $650 was simply more than I could spend and bartered them down to $400. It's $400 I don't have but it has to get done so .... lucky me.

The best news is that the part needs to be ordered and they won't have it until Tuesday.

So I'm moving on to the beer for the rest of the weekend since my wife now has my car and I'm stranded at home.
:cheers:

 

[Winterpeg]

Just got back from the dealership.

They quoted me $650 to replace the bracket and do the work.

They said they took it apart and there were no threads left. So I can't drive it home now or it will probably grenade. Also means I can't bring it any other place.

I told the guy $650 was simply more than I could spend and bartered them down to $400. It's $400 I don't have but it has to get done so .... lucky me.

The best news is that the part needs to be ordered and they won't have it until Tuesday.

So I'm moving on to the beer for the rest of the weekend since my wife now has my car and I'm stranded at home.
:cheers:

That sucks man.... glad you got them down a few hundred at least.

I read somewhere regarding the tensioner pulley.... for the FJ's you have to replace the whole tensioner assembly to have it lined up properly.... or something like that.... :lol:

:cheers: