need idler pulley help
 

The idler pulley on my supercharger belt blew. I have a 2001 Bonneville SSEi. It is the 3" ribbed pulley to the right of the tensioner, not the smooth one to the left and lower down. It is the forward most pulley, closest to the rad.

Does anyone know if the bolt is right or left hand thread? This crappy torx head bolt will strip real easy if I turn it the wrong way. Also, can anyone confirm which size torx driver fits the bolt? I think it is a T50, but I am not sure, and I can't take the bolt into the hardware store to find out. My car won't fit through the door.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Roy

Is it the pulley that is shot or the whole tensioner?
It is Left hand thread and I belive T50.

It's not the tensioner pulley (which is smooth), its the ribbed pulley to the right of the tensionser. The tensioner pulley and the tensioner are fine.

Just as a side note, the dealer only sells an assembly that includes the mounting bracket, tensioner, tensioner pulley and idler pulley. I found the idler pulley at Auto Value, but I haven't found a bolt yet (in case I strip mine).

#8 is a T50, even though it doesn't show so in the picture.

I am 99% sure its a regular (righty tighty, lefty loosy) bolt, as only the tensioner bolts are backwards.

Attachment 35063

Yup you are right haro, that #8 bolt is a righty ;)

Thanks guys. Any idea where I can get a bolt?

I doubt that you are going to strip it. If you do, I just found a spare I can send ya

This confirms the threads also ;)

Attachment 35052
Attachment 35053

Wow. Thanks. Tuck that away and I will contact you if I strip mine. Now that I know for sure which way the thread is, I should be okay.

Thanks for all the help guys. This forum is a great resource, but only because people like you take the time to share your knowledge.

I replaced the idler pulley, even though it was not as planned. The bolt turned out to be opposite thread (left to tighten, right to loosen) and I ended up stripping the torx on the bolt. I drilled the head off the bolt, and when I was drilling the threaded portion to use an easy out the drill bit ended up winding the bolt out (because it was opposite thread). I drilled a 5/8" clearance hole through the threads in the bracket, and used a 5/8" bolt with 2 nuts (one to secure the bolt, the second as a jam nut) on the back side of the bracket. The dust cover rubbed on the bearing, so I placed a washer between the dust cover and the bearing that rested on the inner race, and that worked fine.

To be able to drill the bolt, I removed the tensioner bracket and assembly from the engine, which was fairly easy to do. There were only three bolts and they were easy to get at.

Thanks for your help.

Roy

Ed Morad will have a pulley for you. gtped@msn.com