Hi Fellas

The truck's an '03 1500 ST 4.7L 4X4

I'm overseas with it so I have to be really certain when I order parts from back home. A lot of bad bearing noise lately that, frankly, I can't seem to isolate to a single serpentine pulley. Are pulleys something that should be replaced individually? or do some of you just change them all at once?

And very importantly, are there any reliable OEM or after-market manufacturer recommendations?

Any thoughts or ideas would be great.

Thanks Guys!

 

Replace individually when they go bad. The AC compressor clutch idler pulley is notorious for going dry. I just replaced mine (you'll need a puller) but, I also spun the regular idler pulley with the belt off and it was dry.


These "sealed" pulley bearings can be greased. You just need to use something sharp and lift off the seal. Inject grease with a grease needle, then press the seal back in place. I could have done the clutch idler the same way but I already had the replacement on hand. Be sure to not damage the rubber seal and don't inject too much grease.

 

I just replaced the idler pulleys and tensioner on mine, turns out that's what was making the noise I was hearing. My original 150,000+ mile tensioner had cracked.

 

Thanks for the thoughts and ideas. I tried the trick using a long screwdriver as a stethoscope of sorts, but could only really access the a/c compressor and alternator pulleys. (Too close to the fan if you want to go deeper...) Frankly, neither sound very good.

Not really sure what a "sealed" pulley refers to. But the grease needle idea seems like a good idea, at the very least for a limited time.

Thanks again!

 

Sealed bearing which sits in the pulleys. Regrease like this....




Do this before they go too dry and they can last for ever. Take off serpentine belt once a year, spin pulleys by hand. Grease those that aren't butter smooth.

 

Hey, Dodgevity, thanks for link man! Interesting. I'm going to give it a try (and hope that I don't f*ck it up!) Cheers, Dude

 

Instead of using a puller, can they be pressed out with an arbor press?

Better yet, I don't see why the seals can't be pulled (have done this before per vid above) and bearings repacked without taking the bearings out of the pulleys (??)

Please advise. Trying to plan time for the job. I'd really like to repack the idler bearings while I'm replacing the belt today.

TIA

 

You don't have to remove the bearings from the pulley. I was referring to the AC idler pulley needing a puller in order to remove it from the truck. The regular idler pulleys are easy to do.

 

Thanks for the confirmation. I put this off, now I know what to expect.

 

I replaced my tensioner and idler and belt last summer.
I almost always get Mopar OEM stuff. I usually research on here and other places before getting parts but these look like they came from Parts Geek.
My tensioner pulley started making a rattle at about 50k so I greased it and around 90k went ahead and changed both of them. No pullers necessary. Just remove a nut and they slip on a spindle.
I changed the belt just because I was going to have to take the original off and that way I would have a back-up.

Hope this is of some help!