If someone said you've got a noisy idler bearing what would you do? I wasn't too interested at the time.. said something like 'is that bad?' and got a 'well you should keep an eye out because you don't want to throw a belt'. So are we talking timing belts here? How much money would I be up for to replce the bearing?

Thanks for any help guys.

The idler bearing is probably the bearing in your idler pulley, which is the pulley that puts the tension on your drive belt for the a/c, p/s,alternator, crank and whatever else is down there. If it does collapse, then the belt could fly off and you could overheat the motor and lose power in the battery.
Hope that's right and helps.

Chris.

hmm...my TF has done about 150K kms, and last time i went for a service, they ripped the engine apart to replace some bearings or something :S the next time i got (soon) i have they said they ahve to rip it all apart again to replace everything....

I would recommend getting the idler bearing (part of the idler pulley as Screamin TE has said) replaced.

You DO NOT want it to collapse. It will leave you at the side of the road ... trust me ... it happened to me :) I drove nearly 200km, b4 the battery went dead flat, luckily it was only another 30 to get home lol. Oh and the pulley disappears if it collapses in a big way and your doing 100kmh+ :) The bearing is bad if your belt has the right tension, but squeals a little (or a lot if its real bad) when you turn on the air con (as this loads up the belt and puts more strain on the pulley).

Screamin TE ... got any more pics of your girl friend ... I luv your avatar ... if only the missus would let me take a shot of her :)

The Idler bearing is the timing belt tensoner

How could it be one for the alternator or water pump? doesn't the alternator pulley swing and tension that?

I could be wrong as i havent worked much on the 3.X engines

Oh oh, conflicting advice.. :)

At the time I thought this bloke was just talking about the belt for the alternator, etc.. and didn't really take much notice because.. really.. it doesn't seem that urgent - just a bit of an inconvenience :). But when I got home my dad said it was probably for the timing belt.. in which case.. it most definately NEEDS to be replaced.. as a dead engine tends to be much more than an 'inconvenience' :D

I don't have any audible slippage on the belt.. and the aircon makes no difference to this.

The Idler bearing is the timing belt tensoner
Yes, you have a tensioner on this belt, but I have yet to see one of these collapse, although it is possible, but unless the bloke had the covers off the engine ... how would he know it was on the way out???



How could it be one for the alternator or water pump? doesn't the alternator pulley swing and tension that?

Agreed, the alternator does 'tension' the belt. However there is a pulley (called the idler pulley, probably cause it does nothing but spin, it actually touches the top of the belt, not the ribbed side ;)), that the belt spins around that purely provides 'a tighter course' for the belt to run .... :D

Okay no worries.. seems pretty simple / cheap to fix then.

Thanks for the info guys.

Okay no worries.. seems pretty simple / cheap to fix then.
If its just the bearing ... shouldn't be much at all, the pulley (mitsi genuine) is quite expensive for what it is ($90 or something).

Its an easy thing to check. Pull the thing off ... I think it is one 13mm nut, then try and turn the bearing using your little finger. If it feels clunky ... wip it out and replace it with a similar speced one (probably $3-$6).

If the bearings are stuffed, you should be able to pick some up from somewhere like Bearing Traders, or CBC (Consolidated Bearing Company). Shouldnt be too expensive either. Like tooslow said, bout $3-$6.

Oh yeah, tooslow, i do have more pics, but they are for my eyes only. :naughty:

What kind of noise does a noisy idler bearing make? I've got a noise that comes from my timing belt area, although not too sure what it is yet. Only makes the noise at like 1200-1400 rpm, very anoying though because it makes the noise every time I take off, and its a sick sounding noise. Advice anyone? Anything to be careful of when removing the timing belt cover, like replacing the sticky sealer substance or anything?

Cheers.

thats ur timing belt about to snap and plundge valves into the pistons josh :P

Oh yeah, tooslow, i do have more pics, but they are for my eyes only. :naughty:

Aw, comeon ... I thought the forum was all about sharing ;) :badgrin: