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  #1  
Old 03-14-2008, 03:43 PM
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Why should you change idler pulleys when doing a timing belt?

Because if you don't, they'll look like this. Notice the belt split in two lengthwise, but is still continous. The races separated on the lower left idler pulley and the outer part of the pulley actually came through the cam cover. It took out all the pulley and water pump bearings and jumped timing. But fortunately, it's non-interference so it's running like new after just $250. PO sold me the car like this for $1000 with 85k on it. Thanks dude.
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Old 03-14-2008, 03:50 PM
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$1k! you stole that thing!
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Old 03-14-2008, 04:02 PM
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Pay attention....

You had to have a noisy condition from the pulley with the bad bearing.

These pulleys are normally good for twice that many miles, and if one gets noisy, I would change them all out and the water pump as well... which I did to mine with 160,000 miles on the car. I like to change the timing belt about 50,000 miles, just for the fun of it, but replacing all the pulleys every time would be ludicrous.

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Keith
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Old 03-14-2008, 04:09 PM
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Yeah dealing with the same thing almost, I ordered that kit from eBay will be here Monday. My car started to make a squealing sound which concerned me and Thanks to a friend and Tom I was able to find out what it was before something really bad happened... I hope... Wont know till monday/tuesday when we pull all of that off.
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Old 03-14-2008, 05:44 PM
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I ordered that kit from ebay as well, minus the belt, have an oem belt already to put in. I bought that kit last year for my other 96 Lsi and its a good deal.
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Old 03-14-2008, 05:58 PM
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Pay attention?

Quote:
Originally Posted by kwren View Post
You had to have a noisy condition from the pulley with the bad bearing.

These pulleys are normally good for twice that many miles, and if one gets noisy, I would change them all out and the water pump as well... which I did to mine with 160,000 miles on the car. I like to change the timing belt about 50,000 miles, just for the fun of it, but replacing all the pulleys every time would be ludicrous.

One mans opinion...
Keith
Actually, I bought the car in the 'failed' condition so my first warning was when I saw the ad on craigslist. That photo is proof enough that the pulleys can fail before the belt. In the end, it comes down to budget. Changing pulleys with the belt is certainly good practice for those who pay big $$$ for labor. But for you and I and people named "Tom", it's not quite as critical.
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Old 03-14-2008, 08:22 PM
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Keith's approach is good as I see it.

The pulley is mechanical, and will have a certain failure rate built into it, like all things mechanical. The longer the number of hours it has been running, the closer the failure point will get. A car that has done 160K miles has had its pulleys whizzing for a long number of hours.

So when you add to that the fact that the engine is over 15 years old, it would seem to indicate the idlers need replacement if the car has run more than 100K.

Sensible? No?

Joe
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Old 03-15-2008, 07:10 PM
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This car has 85K on it and is likely on its second timing belt. The condition of the teeth on the belt suggests that it is not original. So it looks like someone just did a belt and ignored the pulleys and this is the result. If this person had bothered to change the pulleys with the belt, they wouldn't have had to sell me their car at a $4000 loss. The point of this thread is to help someone avoid the same problem.

Joe- I agree with your post, but the ??s make the conclusion a bit difficult to decipher.

Stephen
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Old 03-15-2008, 08:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elninoalex View Post
This car has 85K on it and is likely on its second timing belt. The condition of the teeth on the belt suggests that it is not original. So it looks like someone just did a belt and ignored the pulleys and this is the result. If this person had bothered to change the pulleys with the belt, they wouldn't have had to sell me their car at a $4000 loss. The point of this thread is to help someone avoid the same problem.

Joe- I agree with your post, but the ??s make the conclusion a bit difficult to decipher.

Stephen


Sorry Stephen.

What the questions meant was "Is this not a sensible approach?"

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Old 03-15-2008, 09:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elninoalex View Post
Actually, I bought the car in the 'failed' condition so my first warning was when I saw the ad on craigslist. That photo is proof enough that the pulleys can fail before the belt. In the end, it comes down to budget. Changing pulleys with the belt is certainly good practice for those who pay big $$$ for labor. But for you and I and people named "Tom, and jeff", it's not quite as critical.
fixord and i agree
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