Usually I don’t get too bent out of shape about the cost of car stuff. It is all part of the hobby and I never really expect to get a 100% return on my costs, let along my time, on my projects.
But for fucks sake.
Anyone want to guess how much this idler pulley costs?
I’ll give you a hint: The serpentine belt idler pulley was $14.
Here, have another look!
Well as you may have inferred from my asking the question: quite a lot!
$145 shipped, in fact.
Not only that but I found exactly one for sale in my less-than-exhaustive search. Now, in retrospect, I had other options and probably could have/ should have/ would have explored them, but I got a little too excited when I actually found one and pulled the trigger.
And yes, I probably could have/ should have/ would have measured it and found a generic replacement. Or taken it somewhere to have the bearing replaced.
But I didn’t.
And yes, I am both mad at myself and mad at the car for this.
Heh, oh well.
Oddly the serpentine idler and tensioner both sounded OK so despite the horrid condition of the belt I wonder if they’ve been replaced before. I’m throwing in a new supercharger tensioner for good measure anyway because at this point I might as well get this system to 100%.
Or something like that anyway.
As a minor update I’ve got the supercharger’s oil changed and am a little stuck waiting on parts at the moment, so I’m going to switch gears and start going after the brakes....