Well I went and got a new torx T50 bit that wasn't rounded off at all and I was able to get the bolt out by being very careful not to let it strip anymore. I would put a 15mm bolt back in there but after looking at it I think they used a torx bolt there because the head of the bolt doesn't stick out as far and if the bolt head were to stick out right there on that pulley it would hit the belt. I am going to get a new torx bolt and put in there.

 

anyone got a step by step on how to take this pulley off and such?

when ym AC is turned on it squeaks bad and gets higher pitch with rpm. if just normal air is on there is no squeak. only when the compressor is running.

 

a/c pulley wont come out so I gave up on it after I stripped it....Got the a/c tensioner out easily and repacked with grease

 

I did all 4 this morning. Question though. Which way do the bearings face? I didn't pay attention when I took them off. On the idler pulley, it has a rib higher than the back so that one was easy, I put the high rib facing the radiator. For the other 3 I put the bearings facing the motor.

 

Viper I dont think it matters, besides I bet you already put them back.

I did mine today and it helped. However the a/c belt continues to wear out every 5-7k miles. That was causing the squeaking on my car, it was so ******* annoying. It's like you driving a cheapo jalopy and its embarrassing.

Before I did this I used to wonder if it was the pulleys, now I know for sure it's probably the a/c belt.

Great post helped, I also never knew you could repack them.

 

Damn I was looking all over for this thread a while back and could not find it anywhere. This is a great post, now I need to get my lazy *** up and go grease some pulley's.

 

Did mine today except for the torx. You have to be friggin' HE-MAN to get it off and I didn't have a breaker bar that would fit. Oh, well.

 

Awesome post! We should have an entire board on here for great how-to's like this.

 

This thread has quite a following. Maybe it should be a sticky?

 

Definetly needs to be a sticky.

I greased all four of my idler/tensioner pulleys. Also replaced both of my belts. Three of them didn't have any grease in them at all. Two weeks later, and not one peep out of them. I think two of them were making racket, you could hear the bird chipring, and then a really loud belt squeal.

 

this should be a sticky

 

wow i did this today and my bearings too where dry as all get out.... this is a very easy pocket friendly fix...... []D [] []V[] []D

 

This is all great but just make sure the bearing has no play in it and is not grinding when you spin it.
If it does then replace it.
They are cheap.

 

You sir have saved my car from POS status!!

 

I use a piece of plastic tubing as a stethescope. Put one end to your ear and point the other end at suspected pulleys. Move it around carefully, and see where the noise is coming from. 1/2" ID tubing is good. A piece of old garden hose works, too.

 

I've done this a few times now and it works but only short (2 months) term for me. My grease seems to keep melting/vaporizing/blowing out. I've tried from ST heavy duty high temp grease all the way to fully synthetic valvoline bearing grease and my results are the same. There are no openings in the bearing covers. What am I doing wrong. Would a heavy duty marine grease work better?

 

Look at the photos at the beginning of the thread.

You remove the cover and grease the bearings. Replace the cover. Re-install. Happily motor away.

You aren't reusing the bearings with no cover(s), are you?

 

Correct. I remove cover, grease and put cover back on. I've used 4 different greases and they never seem to last 2 months. A few bearing may still have the grease but out of 4 bearings there is always 2 or so dry.

 

Dunno. I'd buy a top quality water-resistant bearing grease and give it a try. Could be your covers are loose from so much on/off. You might just bite the bullet and get a couple of new bearings and start over. It depends on how much cheapness is required vs. how big a pain in the butt all that regreasing is.

 

Valvoline fully synthetic wheel bearing grease is probably as good as it gets.