topwop39
Akron,Ohio
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O.K., all you mechanics out there. My GM dealer told me that I need to replace the idler pulley and the tensioner pulley on my 03 GMC Sierra D/A. He said the bearings are going bad. My question is, how can one tell? I do not hear any type of "squeeling". These are sealed bearings. My truck has 62K miles. I am getting ready to take it on a long trip to Florida, so trying too decide whether to replace or not.
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Peg Leg
Anderson, IN
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I'd release the tension and get the belt out of the way. The try wiggling and spining the the two pulleys. It's not uncommon for the idler to fail but I don't think I've ever heard of any tensioners failing.
Anyway any wobbling or if they won't spin smoothly, I'd take the safe road and chuck them. Might as well throw a new serpentine belt at it and put the old one up for a spare.
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VintageRacer
Dundas, Ontario
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They should spin smooth as glass, no wobble, looseness or roughness at all. Your mechanic is probably right, they do fail and an '03 is not too early at all. On the road you'll loose the whole belt, possibly overheat, no power steering, no brake boost, it's all bad...
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cthehentz
Las Vegas
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They do break, while you are in there replace the belt, idler pulley and tensioner. It's cheap insurance to replace those cheap parts all at once in your drive way instead on the side of the road.
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12th Man Fan
Flower Mound , Texas
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You can cut off a broom handle or use a long screw driver and place one end against the bearing in question and put the other end against your ear with the motor tunning and you will be able to tell if the bearing is bad.
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Dave H M
IL
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cthehentz wrote:They do break, while you are in there replace the belt, idler pulley and tensioner. It's cheap insurance to replace those cheap parts all at once in your drive way instead on the side of the road.
I don't subscribe to changing things out for cheap insurance. He would have to trade the whole truck - that would be cheaper than replacing all the parts as insurance. 
My idler and tensioner are 11 years old and smooth as silk. To me fixing something that is not broke is asking for additional risk of getting bad merchandise.
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BobsYourUncle
Surrey, BC Canada
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I replaced the same items on my GMC Safari van at about 60K miles. There is a lot of pressure on them with the S belt pushing on it. I forget the cost - couple hundred or so??
Really, it is cheap insurance. The above mentioned methods to analyze them work well.
On the other side of the equation, Consider this:
I was driving a company truck a few years ago doing a run up through Calgary and over to Prince George and back to the coast. Ford 1 ton cube van diesel. I was west of Edmonton, taking a shortcut across an Indian reserve when I saw steam coming out the side of the hood. A quick peek at the temp gauge said shut it down - NOW!
Long story short, idler barfed a pulley off and I was dead on the side of the road. It was late Saturday. Several hundred dollars later I was towed into Spruce Grove and everything was closed. Add $120. for a motel and then I couldn't get the parts. The Ford dealer was closed until Monday and I had to get home. Sunday I bought some tools from the local auto part store, took things apart, took the pulley to the Auto part store and bought an off the shelf bearing for it with the right OD and ID. The pulley was pooched so I found some guy working on a hot rod that had a welder. I paid him to weld the outer race of the bearing to the pulley and then I put the thing back together again.
I worked a good part of Sunday to effect the makeshift repair. Then, after limping it to Prince George and then back to Langley BC with a wounded pulley, the owner of the truck had to take it into Ford to get the thing fixed properly.
Add up the expenses of the makeshift fix it and then the proper repair and the bill was around a thousand bucks and a days lost time.
And it took me several days to get the grease off my hands.
Do yourself a big favor - drop it at Chevy and change the pulleys and throw a belt at it while you're in there. It will be well worth it, trust me on that.
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ib516
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I would at least check it. You might be able to get away with just changing the pulley if the bearings are bad. I changed the pulley on my truck a while ago - $25. The whole tensioner/pulley assembly was $100. Tensioner was fine, it still held the belt tight and moved through a wide range.
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azandy70
Green Bay WI
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I have replaced tensioners on several GM trucks. We do all our own and some other people trucks in our shop. If the belt seems a little loose and you can move it up and down easy, it's probably worn. Don't wait till your alternator has a draw and makes it squeel. Idler pully is somewhat common. Even though your truck has low miles, it still could be bad. Not sure what your dealer quoted you to fix this but shouldn't be too much. Parts are cheap and not that much labor. Change the belt too. If you don't trust your dealer, you could have another shop look over your truck. I would change it if it is marginal before a trip.
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E&J push'n wind
San Diego CA, The best climate on earth!
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Well if you get the repair you wont regret it. It is inevitable that they are going to need to be replaced at some time, right. So it is a little premature, is it really worth the worry while on your trip? Now on the otherhand, you don't effect the repairs. You are on your trip and the darn thing fails and you are in the middle of Timbucktoo, now what? Isn't this the way things always work out? You'll kick your self in the pants if you don't but you'll be glad if you do. My $.02 cents worth.
Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know much, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.
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