jmilne1976

Need some help. Bought a new idler pulley from autozone, duralast one. but it seems bigger than stock one... When i put it on the car it would not spin freely, am i missing something here??? do i need to add another washer or something? i used original bolt a washed that come off original part. thanks in advance

vettenuts

Not sure if you have a side by side photo, but based on your description is sounds like the bushing that the bolt goes through is missing (not transferred) or too short. It sounds like when you tighten the bolt the tensioner is hitting the block and not rotating freely.

jmilne1976

yeah the new pulley itself seems to be little bigger, depth wise. when the new one was tightend down it was hit the block and not spinning freely. think i am just going to return it to autozone and get one from gm.

leadfoot4

What a deal!! Several years ago, I had a similar situation when installing a new timing set on my Camaro. I installed the gears and chain, tightened everything up, and the engine wouldn't turn over.....the back side of the cam gear wasn't machined correctly.

TOPCATHR

I just changed all pulleys and tensioners they should be the same size. Some replacements are sealed and don't require the old washers.

Wisdom

I've got an '04 and recently changed an idler pulley during a water pump R&R. I initially also used the original washer that was on the pulley being tossed. It turned out that the shape of that washer caused it to contact the rotating body of the new pulley. I found a spare washer that fit from my tool box and used it. Problem solved. As I was trying to figure this out, I learned that the original washer also served as a dust cover. Edge-on, that washer looks like part of a flying saucer (if you've ever seen one).

- Win