Hi,

I was hoping someone could give me some advice concerning my 3 in. Backside Idler Pulley on my ATI Procharger. It has been wearing down and is now quite "con cave" and is eating my Gator belt. I have ordered a new one and should have it within the week.

I am only producing about 4 lbs of boost right now with the Idler pulley on. Last night, I took it off and went for a short run and produced 6 to 7 lbs of boost. My belt is already kind of tight and may have caused the damage to the Idler. I did not notice any belt slippage with the Idler off.

Does it hurt to run without this Idler pulley? What is it's actual purpose? I am thinking about leaving it off until I get my new one.

Thanks for any help someone can give me.

Larry (spcshtle)

 

Mine is doing (has been doing) the same thing, i take it off from time to time and dont usually notice any belt slip either - I had it off for about 6 months and just recently put it back on when i went to a road course. It does help with the tension on the main pulley, but to what degree and when does the belt starts slipping, i dunno.

Was it making all kinds of noises? maybe the bearings are seizing causing it to create resistance and eating the belt up.

 

The reason your idlers are wearing down in the middle is they are not hard anodized.
Their type 1 or 2 which just gives them the color what you need is type 3.
ATI is now shipping some that are type 3, I just got 1 last week and so did another forum member.

 

Thanks for your comments guys. I will contact ATI about the "Type 3" Idler .

My S/C was making some noise, but when I checked the fluid level it was low. I added some ATI oil and it sounds fine now. But, I am concerned about the fluid level dropping. I changed the ATI oil about 10 months after I purchased the car and the oil level was full then. Now, about 6 months after that, it needed oil. I will see what ATI says.

Thanks again. Take care.

Larry (spcshtle)

 

Can you actually run without the adjusting idler pulley? It takes up slack in the serpentine belt and the spring tensioner keeps things tight when there is slight stretch.

 

My Idler was so worn down, it was eating my belt. I have been driving it without the Idler for the past 3 days with no problems so far. I have a new one on order.

I got on it today again and it produced 7bs of boost with nice solid acceleration. As I stated before, my belt was already on the tight side, so maybe that is why it appears to be working fine now. When I get the new Idler, I plan on installing a new belt that is not so tight. I am thinking the tightness may have contributed to wearing out my Idler. Of course, these are all just my thoughts.

Also, one of the other guys on this thread said he drove without an Idler for 6 months, so it seems to be possible. I would welcome any input from someone who understands this better than me.

Thanks again and take care.

Larry (spcshtle)

 

He is talking about the backside idler(s), not the tensioner.

 

[QUOTE=spcshtle]My Idler was so worn down, it was eating my belt. I have been driving it without the Idler for the past 3 days with no problems so far. I have a new one on order.

I got on it today again and it produced 7bs of boost with nice solid acceleration. As I stated before, my belt was already on the tight side, so maybe that is why it appears to be working fine now. When I get the new Idler, I plan on installing a new belt that is not so tight. I am thinking the tightness may have contributed to wearing out my Idler. Of course, these are all just my thoughts.

Also, one of the other guys on this thread said he drove without an Idler for 6 months, so it seems to be possible. I would welcome any input from someone who understands this better than me.

Thanks again and take care.

Your losing a lot of belt wrap around the crank pulley w/o the lower idler and I don't see how the tensioner could possably take up the slack using the correct belt.:crazy

 

I took off the Upper Backside 3 inch Idler pulley--the one that comes with the ATI Procharger P-1SC-1. It has a deep "valley" worn into it. The lower tensioner is still on--it is the stock corvette tensioner and I would not even think of taking it off.

I talked to ATI today and Tech support said the Gator belts are known for wearing down the ATI Idler pulley. The Gator belt wore down my pulley to a point that the pulley started to damage the belt. (I saw this Saturday when I had the car on a rack) I took off the Idler because it is basically useless at this point and would most likely completely destroy the belt.

ATI said it is ok to drive without the pulley--but will result in some belt slippage. My belt was already kind of tight and probably contributed to the damage to the Idler. It has been 5 days and the car runs fine/fast and there is no black dust like before. I have ordered a new Idler and will install it with a new Non-Gator belt within the next few days.

I was just passing on my experience with this problem to try to get some feedback. ATI said they do not at this time actually know how much better the new Type 3 Idler pulley will perform because it is a fairly recent "upgrade" and they will collect more info as time goes along.

They charge $64 for their Idler pulley.

Last week I found some Dayco flat steel GM pulleys--76 mm with 5/8" bearing opening on Ebay--4 new in the box for $15.00 plus $8.50 shipping. The box P/N is 89007 and the number on the bearing is NTN 6203LU. These are the exact same dimensions as the one from ATI. I am going to try one out to see how well it works. If it works good, it will be a very good price. If not, I will buy the $64 one and probably have to replace it every 4000 to 7000 miles. My car is a daily driver, so I thought I would try it--carefully.

Take care.

Larry (spcshtle)

 

I was just looking at that e-bay auction - Good find, but what holds the bearings in? I do not see a snap ring or anything? I have been replacing the bearings in the stock ATI pulleys for some time, but as you are experiencing - my 3" pulley on the outside has a groove worn into it and would like to get it replaced, but not for $70.....

If you get this, you will have to post results, as i would much rather go that route.

 

The ATI polished parts have a flange on both sides of the bearing sort of like a "shoulder" bolt, so I am hoping that once it is installed, the bearing does not have anywhere to go. I thought it would be worth $23.50 total for 4 pulleys--just to try them. If you check his "other items", you will notice he has another set of 4 for sale. As soon as I get mine and confirm it works or not, I will post my results.

Take care.

Larry (spcshtle)

 

well, if it does work, i'll buy one off of you!

I was thinking of those pieces after i posted, i would think they would hold the bearings in place also, but the pulley could potentially walk? I dunno, maybe they are pressed in there good enough where they wont move.

 

If it works, you can have one for free.

Larry (spcshtle)

 

The new pulleys arrived today--but they will not work. The offset is too deep.

Also, my Backside Idler pulley measures 2 3/8 inch and it does not spin freely--bearing is bad. I talked to Josh at ATI today and he told me my upper Idler pulley is the "old" style that was found to have bearing problems. I ordered a new one from him and he says the new ones are 3 inches now and anodized.

Well, I just wanted to pass along what I found. I could not find any other Idler pulleys that had all the right dimensions, so it looks like ATI is the only place to purchase them.

Larry (spcshtle)

 

That is great.. they know they have a problem with the pulleys and they are more than happy to SELL you a replacement that obviously had the defect...