Broken TJ idler pulley adjuster -- how bad?
 

Okay, I'm a dumbass. I replaced my serpentine belt (that's not the dumb
part). A few days later, it started squealing a bit on cold starts. No big
deal, just tighten it up a little more.

Now comes the dumb part. Tonight, when I went to tighten the belt, I forgot
to loosen the idler pulley mounting bolt. Oblivious to the inordinate
amount of torque it was taking to turn the adjuster, I blithely cranked
away, until -- you guessed it -- it sheared right off.

From what I can tell, this is going to be a bit of a PITA to fix. I think I
can take care of it without removing the front end, but I'm not looking
forward to it. In the meantime, however, I want to make sure I'm not
tempting fate too badly by running without the adjuster. If the mounting
bolt is cranked down tight, do I really have to worry about the idler pulley
sliding and loosening the belt?

And, if anyone has had to deal with this before, how hard was it to repair?

Hal

Re: Broken TJ idler pulley adjuster -- how bad?
 

The idler assembly is held on with two rather substantial bolts.Remove these
bolts and the idler will come right off, and you can simply bolt a new one
on.

That said, this is one of the places where you can fix it with bailing wire
and bubble gum. Loosen the bolt that holds the idler pulley in place, use a
prybar to apply pressure to the pulley in the directin needed to hold the
belt tight, and tighten the securing bolt again. This will suffice until you
need to replace the belt again.


"Hal Haygood" <spamtrap@No-SPAM.haygoods.org> wrote in message
news:Bv88b.24659$AU.1237962@twister.southeast.rr.c om...
> Okay, I'm a dumbass. I replaced my serpentine belt (that's not the dumb
> part). A few days later, it started squealing a bit on cold starts. No
big
> deal, just tighten it up a little more.
>
> Now comes the dumb part. Tonight, when I went to tighten the belt, I
forgot
> to loosen the idler pulley mounting bolt. Oblivious to the inordinate
> amount of torque it was taking to turn the adjuster, I blithely cranked
> away, until -- you guessed it -- it sheared right off.
>
> From what I can tell, this is going to be a bit of a PITA to fix. I think
I
> can take care of it without removing the front end, but I'm not looking
> forward to it. In the meantime, however, I want to make sure I'm not
> tempting fate too badly by running without the adjuster. If the mounting
> bolt is cranked down tight, do I really have to worry about the idler
pulley
> sliding and loosening the belt?
>
> And, if anyone has had to deal with this before, how hard was it to
repair?
>
> Hal
>
>

Re: Broken TJ idler pulley adjuster -- how bad?
 

The idler assembly is held on with two rather substantial bolts.Remove these
bolts and the idler will come right off, and you can simply bolt a new one
on.

That said, this is one of the places where you can fix it with bailing wire
and bubble gum. Loosen the bolt that holds the idler pulley in place, use a
prybar to apply pressure to the pulley in the directin needed to hold the
belt tight, and tighten the securing bolt again. This will suffice until you
need to replace the belt again.


"Hal Haygood" <spamtrap@No-SPAM.haygoods.org> wrote in message
news:Bv88b.24659$AU.1237962@twister.southeast.rr.c om...
> Okay, I'm a dumbass. I replaced my serpentine belt (that's not the dumb
> part). A few days later, it started squealing a bit on cold starts. No
big
> deal, just tighten it up a little more.
>
> Now comes the dumb part. Tonight, when I went to tighten the belt, I
forgot
> to loosen the idler pulley mounting bolt. Oblivious to the inordinate
> amount of torque it was taking to turn the adjuster, I blithely cranked
> away, until -- you guessed it -- it sheared right off.
>
> From what I can tell, this is going to be a bit of a PITA to fix. I think
I
> can take care of it without removing the front end, but I'm not looking
> forward to it. In the meantime, however, I want to make sure I'm not
> tempting fate too badly by running without the adjuster. If the mounting
> bolt is cranked down tight, do I really have to worry about the idler
pulley
> sliding and loosening the belt?
>
> And, if anyone has had to deal with this before, how hard was it to
repair?
>
> Hal
>
>