So I have had a ton of issues with my battery charging, lights dimming, A/C and the fan draining my battery, belts squealing and on and on....

anyways. Was driving home yesterday and all of a sudden...... bang bang bang. Sounded like I thew a rod. Stopped on the highway and all seemed well. Started it up and still had this horrifying sound. When I got home I let it idle and finally saw that my belt idler was shaking like crazy!!! I had replaced the alternator and belt already cause of the issues and checked the idler wheel and it had no play.

When I pulled the wheel holy poo! There were maybe half the ***** in the bearing and the seals were completely melted!!! So I pulled the too lower one just in case...... same deal but had not started rattling yet.

ANYWAYS lol, if you haven't replaced them yet, its only about $5 for each bearing, and could be cheap insurance to save ya from a break down on the trail!! I can get part # too if needed.

The idler wheel is $20 - $30 each and the bearings are about $5 each and the belt is about $40 if the wheel goes bad........so $10 vs $50-$80 when it blow is nice

 

+1 for preventative.

Most of the time the bearings will start making a growling noise when the engine is running but not always. Also overtightening the belt tension can put excessive load on all the accessories and pulleys/bearings.

 

I may need to go check that right now, that could totally explain some stuff

 

SAME thing happend to me, execpt everything ran fine the idle pully bearing was shot and it caused my belt to BURN and explode, it was awsome