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Question about replacing supercharged drive belt.

Kilroy

Kilroy

New member
Okay, I've read some instructions, but Afghanistan wasn't kind to my brain and I confuse easily. Now, for the grooved idler pulley, it is a simple "Lefty loosey, righty tighty" deal, is it not? My original plastic one, whose the brain dead engineer that thought plastic was a good idea to make a pulley out of?? fell apart in my hand when I was testing if it was good. I have a new metal one now. Now, once I replace the grooved idler pulley, is all I have to do is loosen the tensioner pulley by using the "righty loosey, lefty tighty" rule? Now, is this done to to replace the pulley, or does this release the tensioner?? (this is the part confusing me) If this is just how you release the tension, do I just loosen the bolt in the centre of the tensioner pulley, then slip the new belt on, and then tighten the tensioner pulley bolt? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. The local GM guys want like $170.00 for labour (belt is .8 hours, pulley is .5 hours.) And I figure even I could do this. After all, I was able to replace the oil cap with a nice billet aluminum one. :th_winking:
 


it should be a normal bolt on the idler. the tensioner, i used a 15 mm socket on a my ratchet with a small pipe for extra leverage. turn the bolt so the tensioner pulley moves away from the belt, then slide the belt off the pulley then the s/c pulley, its a snug fitting belt, not a whole lot of play even with the tensioner fully turned.
 
its a ten minute job really, (tops) i just changed a idler last month.

i bet the dealer ship takes longer to check the car in, then do the paper work, and then check it out and pay, vs actual time working on the car.
 
i know how it works. i worked at shop for awhile. .8 hrs for a belt when it literally takes a few minutes on a gm. it still makes me mad. they should just have a flat rate on some things. there is the 200% markup on the part to begin with. telling a customer .8 hr on a belt and .5 on a pulley is theft plain and simple. just say the dollar amount. gotta make a buck but that is pure deception.
 
One more question, how easily spun are the smooth idler pulley and the tensioner pulley supposed to be? I checked them out by hand, and they didn't wiggle, but you couldn't spin them and have them spin for 5 seconds or so, they basically just turn.
 


Yeah they should turn freely with absolutely No noticeable wiggle or grinding noise. There will always be some noise while its spinning, but trust me youll know if its on its last leg. If you hold it firm in your hand and rock back and forth it should feel like it's working smoothly then you're good to go. Don't mess with it too much so you don't cause the bearing to fail prematurely.
 
The results of when the pulley doesn't turn freely...

IMAG1431.jpg


Its really a simple job with little effort... Pulley is like $12 so forget the stealership and jump right in!
: )
 
Up here in Canada We don't get $12 pulley and $20 Belt prices, buy I got my belt and Pulley for about $60. Think I spent 15 minutes changing the pulley AND installing the belt. On a side note, what I thought all along was cool Supercharger whine, was in reality a grooved idler pulley on it's way to seizing up. :th_exploding:
2013-04-03162756.jpg
 
Last edited:
Kilroy said:
Up here in Canada We don't get $12 pulley and $20 Belt prices, buy I got my belt and Pulley for about $60. Think I spent 15 minutes changing the pulley AND installing the belt. On a side note, what I thought all along was cool Supercharger whine, was in reality a grooved idler pulley on it's way to seizing up. :th_exploding:
Click to expand...

i had that on a truck the tensioner pulley broke the f off cheap a$$ plastic. new belt and pulley under 40 if I rember right.
 


coolone said:
The results of when the pulley doesn't turn freely...

IMAG1431.jpg


Its really a simple job with little effort... Pulley is like $12 so forget the stealership and jump right in!
: )
Click to expand...

At least you still had some plastic left. All I had was a bearing that wouldn't turn and a missing belt.
 
One thing I would like to say to all who helped me out on this pulley and belt project is a great big thank you! Since returning from Afghanistan, I suffer from PTSD. One of the symptoms, is I have lost a great amount of confidence in my ability to do things. If the labour wouldn't of been so high, I probably would of had the dealer do this job. However, the people of this forum explained everything to me so very clearly, that when I opened the hood and looked at the project, I decided to give it a try. It was exactly as you all said. How to replace the pulley, how to use the tensioner, and how to put the belt back on. I am now starting to think that there might be more projects like this that I might be able to do on my grand Prix. Once again, thank you all very much!!:th_sign-thanks::th_thumbsup-double:
 
i must say, we've motivated girls to do work on their cars. its kinda what we do lol i cant see spending good money at a shop for things a simple ratchet set and your time can fix.

you still got skills, just get in there and take over. hope you feel better, and thanks for kicking some ass over seas too. (and making it back home)
 
I just had to replace this pulley yesterday and all I found were chunks of plastic and the bearing. I was lucky the belt didnt come off completely. It was rubbing and I smelled the burning belt. A trip to autozone, $36, and 10 mins later belt and pulley were replaced. Going to look at replacing some of the other pulleys soon to avoid this again.
 


If you can budget the extra money, several pulleys have metal heavy duty replacements but you have to ask for them usually. They also usually cost double, but work much much better and longer.
 
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