1995 ford ranger pulley and belt problems

[reidk]

I have a 1995 ford ranger with a 4.0 engine. my idler pulley broke off going down the road. I replaced the idler pulley and 40 miles later my new idler pulley junked out and shredded my belt. any ideas on what would cause this? I'm thinking maybe i over tightened the pulley or is that even possible? or maybe my tensioner is bad. i don't know much about fords so please help. thanks

 

[Tbars4]

...Whenever you replace an idler pulley, you also replace the belt with a new one...

 

[reidk]

the belt looked fine. but why did the brand new idler stop working? it's bearing and everything locked up.

 

[Tbars4]

..The belt would have heated up, stretched, etc...Looks are not what you rely on when getting from point A to point B...

...The bearings do go out with age, and the pulley is a replacable item for this reason...They get dry, heat up and fail..

 

[aldive]

...Whenever you replace an idler pulley, you also replace the belt with a new one...

Why? I never have.

 

[Tbars4]

...As mentioned for the reasons in post #4..

..and yes, over the years I have tried to replace only the tensioner with out replacing the belt, only to have it fail as mentioned in the first post of this thread...

...Edit: I just seen this was on a new idler pulley that failed in 40 miles...Where did you get it from??? it sounds like it was a faulty part..

 

[reidk]

I got the new idler directly from ford. every part store in town had the pulley but not the special bolt and washers. that's why I got the new idler from ford because it came with the bolt and washers that I needed. I don't know why it failed after just 40 miles...maybe I over tightened it. maybe my tensioner is bad and it caused my belt to be out of allignment. If anyone knows the torque specs for the idler and tensioner assembly that would be greatly appreciated because i'm installing both pullies new on tuesday.

 

[Tbars4]

...This will answer your question...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70227&highlight=idler+pulley

...and this is worth reading...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204252&highlight=idler+pulley

 

[reidk]

i did notice that after i replaced the idler pulley the first time that the belt didn't run in the middle of the pulley but more to the back side of the pulley. what would cause that?