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View Full Version : Idler Pulley - Where to Buy?



cr0sh
09/25/2018, 01:44 AM
All,

The bearing on my idler pulley has given up the ghost. I've looked on the forum, and the common suggestion is to order from IsuzuParts.com for the pulley - since it seems that the pulley that is sold by every other place (I purchased one from RockAuto - bearing too big; tried local AutoZones, Napa, Oreilly - all the same thing - did Isuzu tell companies the wrong info?) has the wrong size bearing.

So I ordered one yesterday - to the tune of $100.00 - sigh. Today I got an email saying my order was declined; I don't know why yet - I sent back an email asking why, and tomorrow I may call 'em - but I think I know why:

The pulley is likely "unobtanium" - heavy sigh.

So - is there another source for this pulley?

My next option, if there isn't, is to purchase the bearing (It seems to be a common bearing) and having a machine shop replace it in the old pulley (which is fine otherwise). Would this be the recommended way to go?

Another option - though I don't know if it is a proper option - would be to either have a "spacer" machines for the larger pulley bore to fit the original shoulder bolt - or to have a custom shoulder bolt machined to fit the larger bore. Those two options would be a last resort kind of thing, as that could get expensive quickly (though I do have friends with machine shops - but still, time and materials won't be cheap).

Can anyone give me advice, help me out in some way, etc? Like I said, I think having a new bearing installed will be my best route forward, but if anyone has other solutions, I'm all ears!

WormGod
09/25/2018, 08:39 AM
Really? I got one from Rockauto juts a couple years ago and it was fine. Cant recall the brand so, probably doesn't help much heh.

Cobrajet
09/25/2018, 09:48 AM
Third option... PM me, and for the price of shipping, you can have the set of idler pulley and tensioner that I bought locally in 2010, and used for only two weeks, while waiting for my OEM Izusu parts to arrive. They're not doing me any good. I held on to them hoping someone could use them. (I guess that would be YOU.)

MSHardeman
09/25/2018, 11:08 AM
Wonder if the idler pulley is the same one on the 3.2L Trooper engines? Can anyone verify that? Might be easier to find a Trooper part than a VX part even though they are probably the exact same thing.

cr0sh
09/26/2018, 12:38 AM
Third option... PM me, and for the price of shipping, you can have the set of idler pulley and tensioner that I bought locally in 2010, and used for only two weeks, while waiting for my OEM Izusu parts to arrive. They're not doing me any good. I held on to them hoping someone could use them. (I guess that would be YOU.)

I tried to PM you, but the system said your box was full and you needed to delete stuff to free up space...? So...

I'm interested, but I want to verify first what you have - because you mentioned "tensioner". What I need is the idler pulley at the "top" of the engine; it's fixed in place with a shoulder bolt. I'm not in need of the tensioner or pulley. Now - if you have a set of both the tensioner/pulley and the idler pulley - well, I'll take both. Can't have too many parts with these vehicles.

Let me know (send me a PM). Right now, I have on order replacement bearings to swap 'em out - but you never know if that's going to work ok.

Thanks a bunch - it might be a life-saver!

cr0sh
09/26/2018, 12:44 AM
All - found out today that my order was declined because the part is "no longer available from the manufacturer" - they should really update their system, if that's the case.

I ended up ordering some 6301 bearings off Amazon to replace the dead one - got a few different kinds just to see what might be best. One's an SKF (double sealed), one's a Nachi (I've heard good things about them), and a pair of generic sealed ones from VXB. I'm probably going to install the Nachi (or I might just wait for the SKF - it seems like something I could install and it would take forever to fail).

A friend of mine has a 20 ton press, plus I bought a few extra tools to help (a bearing puller, and a bearing install kit for metric sizes). Plus there's Cobrajet's offer above. One way or another, I'll get this thing fixed!

Thanks!

Cobrajet
09/26/2018, 04:50 PM
I've got good news, and bad news...

Good -- My IN box is empty.
Bad -- I took the idler and tensioner out of the box to take a picture, and it was immediately obvious that the tensioner was brand new, but the idler pulley was the old, original part. I looked through several boxes in my garage, but cannot find the "new" idler pulley. Sorry. Guess you are back to option 2.

Gregg