Idler Pulley - Bad or Good

[truk4u]

I saw this on another forum and thought it was good info:

http://www.gates.com/tensioner/tensioner_video.html

[JIM KELLER]

Good One, Thanks Tom.

[travelite]

After 100K miles on the original tensioner, I installed a new one. I have to say, it is rock steady.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Several of us who have been on the POG forum for a while have posted about the failure of our idler pulleys. For those recent to the forum I would suggest that whenever you have an opportunity you loosen all your belts and spin all of the idler pulleys. The time to deal with a bad pulley (bearing) is when you are not in the middle of a trip.

Some of the idlers just require a new bearing to be installed and others may be easier to fix by getting the entire pulley assembly. They should spin freely and without any noise. If they do not feel smooth when you spin them they are starting to fail. The video shows the spring loaded belt tensioner some of the coaches have. Others have a screw jack type tensioner, but every one of our buses have several idler pulleys, not just the one shown.