Idler pulley, repalce?

[exceldetail]

Heres a pic of my idler puller. If its not symptomatic of any problem, is this visual a sign of things to come?

I would imagine replacing the serp at the same time is a good idea?

 

[KWT2000]

that is perty rusty i would replace it and the belt if it shows excessive wear

 

[Stoned06]

How freely does it spin? That is the real issue for the idler pully. If it spins well, then the bearing is good. The rust will appear fairly quickly on the worn surface if it gets wet. That should go away after running the engine. If it doesn't, I would guess the serp belt is more of the culprit than the idler, and it isn't contacting the surface of the pulley due to being quite worn. But if the pulley surface is starting to get deeper than a coat of paint grooves, then by all means replace it. They are fairly cheap.

 

[exceldetail]

Like I said I dont have any issues with it other then what the pic reveals. I just figured it was a sign of things to come. Any reason NOT to go OEM with this replacement? Doing a quick Google search, they run anywhere from $11.00 to about $45.00. I figured I would meet em half way with a AC Delco for about $25.00. The local NAPA wants $40.00!

 

[ELVATO]

On tascaparts.com, the idler pulley is 24.42 + shipping. That's for a motorcraft one. Shipping is 10 bucks. I'd order it from there if you need other OEM stuff, since the shipping is based on weight. I guess as long as you aren't ordering a motor, it should stay pretty reasonable.

Or just get the AC Delco one. Unless it's really out of balance, I doubt it'll be much different

 

[exceldetail]

........Or just get the AC Delco one. Unless it's really out of balance, I doubt it'll be much different

I just dont want it seizing up on me away from home, kind of a preventative maintenance job eh....cheap fix.

 

[Stoned06]

I just dont want it seizing up on me away from home, kind of a preventative maintenance job eh....cheap fix.

Remove the belt and spin the idler. If it doesn't spin freely or is noisy, I would replace it. Otherwise you should be OK with the one that is on there. The surface rust won't cause it to fail, but a bad/dirty bearing will.

 

[exceldetail]

Remove the belt and spin the idler. If it doesn't spin freely or is noisy, I would replace it. Otherwise you should be OK with the one that is on there. The surface rust won't cause it to fail, but a bad/dirty bearing will.

I would imagine the rust isnt good on the belts surface though? Im not sure how it got rusty, Im 20 miles from the coast, and I dont get the engine area wet. I wouldnt think rust would have a chance to even get a grip with all the attrition on the idlers surface.
Sounds like a good idea though, and thank you.....