idler pulley

[LaTechSHO]

I had a customer come in today ( I work at O'Reilly Auto Parts ) with a 93 ATX needing an idler pulley.... after looking at the pulley and bearing and remembering what i had read on the forum about it being japanese. So you can't get it from parts places, only ford as an assembly and such i figured it would be a good time to find out once and for all if this bearing was available aftermarket to be pressed... BCA doesn't make it for sure... BUT... I spoke with a guy at the local yamaha place and we talked about some bearings and threw some specs at each other and i think i have found it... if this guy brings the bearing/idler back, which he said he would... i'll know for sure... when i get a yamaha part number i'll let you all know...

Louis

 

[Todds93SHO]

I never checked for the idler pulley, but I replaced a bearing inside my alternator and looked exactly the same as the idler pulley bearing. It was an NSK bearing.

I just brought the bearing into the parts place and the guy cross referenced it in some catalog, ordered it from Chicago I think. I was expecting a similar bearing but different manufacturer but to my surprise got the exact NSK bearing. I think it was $22 though. I'll have to check my receipt for the price and part number.

 

[luigisho]

Let us know. I know there was someone on a different site about 6mos. ago trying to stock up on used ones because of their scarcity.

 

[rangerj]

Re. the Idler pulley bearing;

The narrow idler pulley (water pump/power steering pump) bearing is a NSK (Japanese) bearing number BD20-15DWA. I am looking for the wider pulley I changed a few months ago. When I find it, I'll post the bearing number for it. It may be the same bearing, but I do not know that for sure.

I had it, the bearing, inspected and measured by a representative of both BCA and Bearings Inc. It is an odd size, and cannot be matched by anything manufacured by any civilized country in the world.

The manufacturer (NSK not Ford) considers the bearing to be "proprietary". In other words you buy "their" $30 part for $85. KOYO does the same thing with the A/C compressor pulley bearing in post 92 SHOs. Is there a pattern here?

If this bearing can be replaced for under $30, it would save a lot of SHO owners some big bucks. Please keep us posted. No pun intended. rangerj

 

[Todds93SHO]

I might be missing something here... I was looking through my box of replaced parts and noticed the 2 idler pulleys I have are exactly the same. Same sizes and same same bearings. Should these be different? I don't understand the wider vs narrower that rangerj is talking about. I must have been shipped the wrong part when I ordered them, whatever I got though works alright.
*Edit* I realized that I had also replaced the pulley on the belt tensioner and that was the same as one of the other pulleys. I have the correct ones on there....2 the same, one is different...at least on a '93 ATX

The bearing that I had from the alternator was AB1 from the receipt I have, but I don't have the bearing to match the NSK number to. I do realize now though that the alternator bearing was much bigger than this pulley bearing.

I'll bring the idler pulley to the shop I had luck at and see if they can match it up with something. For now I just have a munch of useless info.....

Keep Ya posted

<small>[ September 03, 2002, 07:54 PM: Message edited by: Todds93SHO ]</small>

 

[rangerj]

To clarify,

The idler pullies on the 89, 90, and 91, SHOs are two different widths. The narrow pulley is for the power steering pump and water pump. The belt is a 4 ribbed belt.

The wider pulley is for the 6 ribbed belt that drives the A/C compressor and the alternator. The bearing on this pulley is the same as the narrow pulley bearing, that is an NSK BD20-15DWA. This is the pulley that retails for about $95 at a dealer. Ford part number E9DZ-6B217-B

If a suitable replacement bearing can be found, or better yet an exact replacement, for under $30
it would be a great benefit to all of us.

As an alternative, the inferior bearing could be pressed out, the pulley could be machined to fit a bearing common to the rest of the world, and the bolt that holds the bearing could be machined to fit the inside diameter of the replacement bearing.

The machine shop work would be costly, but the next time the bearing needed to be replaced, it would be readily available, and not "proprietary"! rangerj

 

[SHOZ123]

F6DZ-8678-A is the V8 serpentine idler pulley and will work. It is exact same bearing but the pulley is a bit different in design although the same diameter. The '99 pulley is more like the V6 ones but I don't know the part number or price.

IMHO you can just use the whole pulley but the bearing comes out easily if you want to put it in your old pulley. $27 in May of this year from www.fordpartsnetwork.com

<small>[ September 03, 2002, 09:54 PM: Message edited by: SHOZ123 ]</small>

 

[SolidState]

To the TOP ^^

My top idler bearing is shot....any word on replacing just the bearing?

 

[SHOZ123]

SolidState:
To the TOP ^^

My top idler bearing is shot....any word on replacing just the bearing?

Yes just order the V8 pulley and press the bearing out, then press it into your old pulley. It doesn't take a lot of force and could probably be done in a vise.

 

[LaTechSHO]

well.... i should have known..the guy never came back with the pulley...so being tomorrow is my day off... i'm gonna take the two pulley's off of mine and go find out about the bearings...should have some info for you guys tomorrow afternoon/evening

Louis

 

[rangerj]

SolidState,
You could use a socket slightly larger than the bearing as a "receiver", and a socket slightly smaller than the diameter of the bearing as a "ram".

You could use a vice, or a large "C" clamp, as the "press", to push the bearing into the receiver.

DO NOT use a hammer and a pipe, or socket, or whatever, to drive out the bearings, or drive in the new bearing. This methor (hammer) could damage the bearing, and possibly distort the pulley. "Press" the bearings out, and "press" them in.

If you do not have the tools, you can usually get an auto parts store to do it for a few bucks (a couple of toonies and a loonie ought to do it). If your a long time good customer, they may not even charge you for something this simple!

Please let us know if this works out, that is the bearing is an exact match, the price is about $30 U.S., and the bearing swap is relatively easy to do. This is a big savings, $95 verses $30 for a bearing (times 2). And thank you to SHOZ123. Hope this helps, rangerj

 

[LaTechSHO]

with the dimensions given for the ATX idler pulley bearing...a 6007 bearing should do the trick on that ... as per the guy at yamaha... 6007 is not a yamaha number...its a bearing number (fairly universal) as for the MTX.. i have done some research into it... and they are the same bearing for both pulley's .. 20mm ID 37mmOD and 15mm wide.... which BLOWS shoot ... NSK looks to be the only manufacturer i have found... and as per the NSK tech guy "yeah, we don't have any of those in the world" so...... back to the drawing board... a 204 bearing has the same ID and width.. its just 10mm bigger OD... i'm either gonna find the bearing to fit this damn pulley or a pulley to fit the bearing i CAN get. I'll keep you posted

Louis

 

[SHOZ123]

The bearings on the V8 and V6 pulleys have the excat same number and are the exact same morfidite size. I looked for two weeeks through every bearing book at work last summer for replacements.

I found another bearing in that same size but it is a non-sealed thrust bearing and would have to be constantly lubricated.

But again the actual bearing is excatly the same.

 

[LaTechSHO]

i guess i must just have a screwed up setup..because the idler off of the 94 atx that i was looking for and my two pulley's that i pulled off today have completely different bearings....completely different numbers...and are completely different sizes...mine is a 90 mtx...

 

[SHOZ123]

That may be I've only compared the 3.0L idlers to the V8. Wat is the diameter of the pully and the center hole?

<small>[ September 06, 2002, 09:03 AM: Message edited by: SHOZ123 ]</small>

 

[SolidState]

Alright, here is what I have concluded...

The idlers on the tensioner and the top between the waterpump and the altenator are exactly the same. The lower idler is different, but I don't know about the bearing...the lower idler (between the AC compressor and Harm. Balancer) is the most expensive of the two.

As well, the part number for the upper and tensoiner pulley of the 3.2L ATX V6 is exactly the same as all three idlers off the 3.4L V8 of the gen3s.

What I have gathered from this thread is...the idlers for the MTX and the ATX are completely different, and it seems that replacement bearings for the two upper ATX pullies are readily available, while unfortunately, the MTX idler bearings are not

Lastly, as it turns out...it doesn't seem to be my idlers....it is in fact my AC pulley, which nicely compliments the blown clutch...which is, of course, siezed on to the compressor... horray...

 

[SHOZ123]

The 3.0L bearing I checked was the one by the alternator. It is the same bearing as the V8 and the pulley is the same diameter.