Alternator Idler Pulley for V-Belts?

ColLonewolf

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Anyone ever come up with the perfect idler pulley to take the slack out of the alternator belt so it will live longer? Searched for it but got nothing but serpentine. Thanks.
 

Cubey

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Anyone ever come up with the perfect idler pulley to take the slack out of the alternator belt so it will live longer? Searched for it but got nothing but serpentine. Thanks.

Just use a big tire iron to tension the alternator and keep an eye on it. I use one of these: https://www.harborfreight.com/24-inch-general-purpose-tire-iron-93230.html

Also, get the 9580HD Gates Fleetrunner belt because that's the furthest belt in so it's a pain to replace if you lose it. Happened to me but it was because the belt wasn't tightened properly after the fan clutch was replaced and I didn't notice. After it was lost, I saw it loose in a pic I took shortly before it was lost.
 
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The_Josh_Bear

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I have found a fix, though I can't remember what car it was out of. It's just a serpentine idler from a 2000-ish Mazda somethingrather but it works awesome. Haven't lost that belt since I put it on years ago.

As for tensioning it tighter, I did that for 3 belts before I got fed up and found an idler in the salvage yard. Admittedly they weren't Gates belts but still, I lost 3 in less than a year. One NAPA, one Orielly and one more.
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Obviously I was able to use the third bolt hole on the alternator adjustment bracket. I'm pretty sure I had to find a bolt but that's small peanuts.
 

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Cubey

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It looks a lot like the belt tensioner pulley from an early 2003 Ford Taurus. The 2003 Mazda Tribute's tensioner pulley looks the same but with a different tensioner. (pic is a Taurus one)

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chris142

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I have found a fix, though I can't remember what car it was out of. It's just a serpentine idler from a 2000-ish Mazda somethingrather but it works awesome. Haven't lost that belt since I put it on years ago.

As for tensioning it tighter, I did that for 3 belts before I got fed up and found an idler in the salvage yard. Admittedly they weren't Gates belts but still, I lost 3 in less than a year. One NAPA, one Orielly and one more.
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Obviously I was able to use the third bolt hole on the alternator adjustment bracket. I'm pretty sure I had to find a bolt but that's small peanuts.
Pulley should be on the back side of that belt. Not the v side
 

captain720

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Has anyone ever done this really well? A proper v belt idler setup? I am starting on my version of a good clean solution to the endless V belt flop on the alternator belt that makes them wear out sooner but i was curios if anyone else had done it with a proper v belt idler. All my other rigs have had good quality v belt setups and this ford 6.9 alternator belt is not setup right from the factory.
 

captain720

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I bought a name brand v belt pulley to solve this problem but the inner race ID is 0.65 of an inch so a 5/8th shoulder bolt was too sloppy so I had to make a gizmo to use a 1/2 bolt. It works as the spacer I need and it is a very nice tight fit.

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Nero

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Where do you bolt the pulley at though?

Edit, nevermind I scrolled up, I'm an idiot lol
 

captain720

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Here’s the solution so far, it is a weld on not a bolt on. I may be able to instal it today and show further.

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captain720

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So far this seems to be the ultimate solution, I don’t have enough miles on it yet to say for sure but it has completely eliminated the problem in a clean and efficient way.
 

Rdnck84_03

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That looks like a good idea. I haven't had any issues with the alternator belt on my 83, but the a/c is a totally different ballgame. At an idle with the compressor running it flaps hard enough that is starts squawking. I tried tightening the tensioner probably way too tight with a 3' breaker bar and it still does it.
 
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