Broke an Idler pulley boss...

[demarcom]

Seems like bad news... I lent out my trq wrench and now that it's returned I was going to change out the belt for a new one. Well... while i was at it I figured it would check to trq of the water pump pulley bolts and a few others. The h20 pump seemed rather loose and wasnt htting the 20lbs of trq easily... so the brainiac I am I tried it on the idler pulley to see if the bolts were just loose. Well, it seems my trq wrench came back busted and would not click... I overtorqued the idler bolt and when I removed it the boss was broken off.

i was able to get the boss back on the cover and was able to re-bolt up the idler. it's the idler above the tensioner and it really doesnt have much belt tension on it.. it's mostly a smooth guide pulley..

So.... everyone here always has good advice... Since the idler re-torqed to 20lbs with my other wrench, do you think it's OK? or do I have to change the cover??? What a dumbass problem the may cost me some big dollars and time....

If I do have the change the cover. how involved is that??

 

[SilentScope]

extract the bolt?

 

[demarcom]

Bolt's fine, the boss broke off... it's the machined nub that the idler bearing rides on

 

[SilentScope]

got it. cover is coming off. not very hard, but commit 3-4 hours (at least it took me that long). i'd get a repair manual

 

[BruceH]

Seems like bad news... I lent out my trq wrench and now that it's returned I was going to change out the belt for a new one. Well... while i was at it I figured it would check to trq of the water pump pulley bolts and a few others. The h20 pump seemed rather loose and wasnt htting the 20lbs of trq easily... so the brainiac I am I tried it on the idler pulley to see if the bolts were just loose. Well, it seems my trq wrench came back busted and would not click... I overtorqued the idler bolt and when I removed it the boss was broken off.

i was able to get the boss back on the cover and was able to re-bolt up the idler. it's the idler above the tensioner and it really doesnt have much belt tension on it.. it's mostly a smooth guide pulley..

So.... everyone here always has good advice... Since the idler re-torqed to 20lbs with my other wrench, do you think it's OK? or do I have to change the cover??? What a dumbass problem the may cost me some big dollars and time....

If I do have the change the cover. how involved is that??

How many threads were left in the cover? I can't remember if the boss is threaded or not. If it's just acting as a spacer I'd run it and go from there based on observations.

 

[demarcom]

It is threaded but I was able to get the bolt back on to 20ft/lbs torque. The boss is so small and light I cant imagine it holds much. I ordered up all the parts for fixing the issue. $300 for the cover, and all necessary gaskets... thanks Tousley.. If it does run OK, I will make lemonade out of lemons and get the new cover powdercoated to match the valve covers....

Still need to fire it up and see if anything is obviously wrong. I just hate to have the car down during a short NJ summer...

 

[2014_GT]

Just a little engineering input here... but the belt's going to have the same tension throughout the entire serpentine system. How much load's on a pulley has to do with the amount and nature of contact between the belt and pulley.

 

[SilentScope]

^ all of it.

More contact=more load.

OP, I got your PM. I opened mine to replace a cam chain tensioner. When I did it, I drained all my fluids. Used the chance to treat it like a complete flush.

You've got a fun project ahead of you lol

 

[demarcom]

Just took the car for a 40+ mile trip and it seems OK for now. I will collect the necessary parts and make this a winter time project. I only put 1000+ miles on the car each year. Then I can take my time and make it weekend or 3 project. Good part (if any) is the idler has about 10% belt contact. it's the one between the AC pump and alternator. Thanks for the input.

 

[BruceH]

If and when you replace the front cover don't sweat it. You will need a gasket set and front seal. The hardest part is removing the balancer and that's a piece of cake.

 

[CraigNnem]

Hardest part for me was removing the P/S pump & putting it back was even worse.

 

[SilentScope]

^ plus one