vetterdstr

For those of you who own an ATI S/C you may have heard of the problem with the Idler Bearings. The Idler's that I am talking about are located within a few inches of the main pulley of the S/C. These bearings burn up and then the Idler stops turning causing the belt to actually smoke while it is skidding over the top of the Ceased Idler.

I had this happen to my car on Friday afternoon (right before Dyno Day) :rolleyes: Luckily I was able to take off the S/C, remove the Idler, snap ring and then take out the bearings and get replacements.

I went to Applied Industrial Technologies and purchased 4 bearings (2 for the car, 2 for spares) for a total cost of $36.

Each idler has 2 bearings inside so I would get 4 bearings total for the next time it goes out.. and believe me it will.. :cuss

Anyway the address and phone # as well as the part number are below so you can order this part and keep it on hand to have replacement parts instead of sending everything to the Manufacturer for warranty repairs.

Fafnir Bearing Part Number 203PP

Applied Industrial Technologies
255 East Brokaw Road
San Jose, CA. 95112

(408) 436-5464 Ext 130 (parts counter)
(408) 436-0791 Fax #

Get these parts for your ATI or you will be sorry!! :mad :cry :bs :cuss

vetterdstr :cheers:


[Modified by vetterdstr, 2:26 PM 10/9/2002]

vetterdstr

I just contacted Dave at Applied about this post, he is ready to take you order for these bearings. :)

vetterdstr :cheers:


[Modified by vetterdstr, 9:08 AM 10/9/2002]

dbvettez06

Are you talking about the idler just under the blower pully? You mentioned taking the blower off, but if its the idler i'm thinking of you wouldnt have to take the blower off..I will also order replacements Good post :cheers:

vetterdstr

Yes, I am talking about the Idler under the S/C "main pulley" and the idler that is located on the outside (the one you can see easily) of the main S/C pulley. These bearings fit both of the small idler pulleys located next to the S/C. :yesnod:

vetterdstr :cheers:


[Modified by vetterdstr, 10:42 AM 10/9/2002]

HIGHRPM

Are these bearings identical to the original ones? If so, won't this be an ongoing problem? Is there a higher load capacity bearing setiup that could be installed? :cheers:

vetterdstr

Yes, these are identical replacements to the bearings that come with the kit. There is no better bearing to replace this with. Replacing these bearings on a regular schedule will be my way of not ever having this (ceased up idler) problem again.

vetterdstr :cheers:

Av8ter

can you guesstimate how many miles you had on the ATI before the bearings seized? are they sealed bearings? I didnt pay much attention to the bearings during the installation, but it doesnt matter anyway, im going to pull it back out to mill the lower idler bracket to help center the belt on the pulley, so i guess i will take a closer look. if they arent sealed, then perhaps some sealed bearings can be found to help retain the grease inside,,,,,,i cant imagine a bearing seizing so soon otherwise,,,the stock idler pulley will last for years and im pretty sure its a sealed setup.


[Modified by Av8ter, 2:30 PM 10/9/2002]

vetterdstr

I put 2 or 3 thousand miles on my car before the bearings went out. The Bearings that burned out were sealed and the new ones I have posted part numbers for are sealed too. :yesnod:

vetterdstr :cheers:


[Modified by vetterdstr, 2:02 PM 10/9/2002]

HIGHRPM

I don't have my car back yet, so I don't have anything to look at. What's the diameter of the idler pulley and the approximate ratio of it to the big pulley? It sounds like the idler is spinning faster than the bearings are rated for, causing overheating and failure. Do you think a larger idler with its slower rotation speed might eliminate this problem. I have access to machine shop facilities and I think a redesign of the idler could help eliminate this problem. When I get my car back and survey the situation, I'll send you an IM. Maybe we can find a way out of the endless cycle of bearing failure and replacement. :cheers:

vetterdstr

yes, the little Idler pulley is much smaller than the S/C pulley and spins many times faster than the S/C. The bearings in the idler are sealed with grease but that only lasts so long as opposed to the S/C which is swimming in 15 oz of oil. :crazy:

vetterdstr :cheers:

HIGHRPM

As soon as I get my car back, I'll look into designing a bigger idler pulley. Do you see any reason why the idler has to be so small and spin so fast? I think a much larger idler, spinning at half the speed of the current small one, will increase bearing life many fold. I will look into a redesign and post the results. :cheers:

vetterdstr

I think the small idler can be replaced with something bigger. Let me know what you think when you get your car back. :)

vetterdstr :cheers:

tireburninls1

I've already had one of those bearings blow itself apart, fortunately I caught it before the idler seized. I also replaced all 4 bearings with identical replacements but would like to find a better solution. Bigger idlers would be great, and would also cause slightly more belt wrap for the blower.

I think I might not renew my membership in the ATI fanclub.

BLUTHUNDER

Steve , thanks for looking out for us !
I'm going to order up some spare's tomorrow...How long did it take you to swap out the bearings ?

:cheers:

Jeff

vetterdstr

Jeff, no problem man!! :)

Replacing both sets of bearings took about 4 hours to do it all. While I was there I also took care of the oil leak that the drain plug has with Plumbers tape. Hopefully now I can actually clean the engine and undercarriage and have it stay looking good without all that oil leaking. Next time I do this it should take less time.

I think Applied technology is only open on Mon through Fri. You can try calling though if you like.

vetterdstr :cheers: