DII - Idler pulley replacement

[imag]

My idler pulley (70mm, small one close to the tensioner) was making a lot of whining noise. Bought a new one from British-Atlantic. Came to $31.45 with shipping.
I did the exchange today. Wow, that was easy.
1. Removed the radiator plastic cover on top (4 screws).
2. Placed a flat piece of card board inbetween the radiator and the fan, so as to not damage the radiator if accidently slip.
3. With a 15mm socket on the tensioner pulley, removed the tension on the belt to remove the belt.
4. With a 1/2" socket loosened the bolt of the idler pulley. With a longer socket you work inbetween the fan blades.
5. Replaced the idler pulley with the new one, put the belt back on and replaced the plastic cover again.

Easy working; took less than 1 hour to do.

Result - MUCH quieter engine noise. Now I can hear the V8 rumble again

Probably good to replace the serpent belt at the same time, but mine looked in good shape.

The old idler pulley was really in bad shape. It had developed multiple flat spots and the bearings sounded dry and "gone".
The new idler pulley looked much more solid in comparison.
Certainly worth the little effort and saved some money as the LR dealer quoted me $140 to do the same job.

On the attached photo, the old pulley is on the left, new one on the right.

[Rovin4life]

if you buy the tools to take off the fan, it takes less than twenty minutes to change.

getting the belt off around the fan is the really big problem.

alot of times doing any all work underneath the car at the front of the motor its easier to take the fan off for more space.

[Muddy Oval]

how many miles did you get out of it before the tensioner went bonkers?

[wolf]

awsome advice man, i've been wanting to do that for a while, how long did it take them to send the part?

[imag]

Muddy Oval,
When I bought my DII a few months ago it had 69K miles. When I replaced the idler it had 73K on.

wolf,
British-Atlantic had it in stock (as have most LR parts dealers). I had it sent by US postal ground. For a fistfull of $'s you can get it quicker

[frickjp]

NAPA has this pulley for under $10. 38018. D1 pulley in the tensioner itself is rumoured to be a Dayco 89006. The grooved, plastic D2 tensioner pulley is a Dayco #89054. Works on RR as well.

[scottagnew101]

Originally Posted by frickjp

NAPA has this pulley for under $10. 38018. D1 pulley in the tensioner itself is rumoured to be a Dayco 89006. The grooved, plastic D2 tensioner pulley is a Dayco #89054. Works on RR as well.

sorry to revive an old thread, but for people like me who do searches for information i think its important to say that part #38018* is not the correct DII idler pulley (as far as napa goes) and that 89054 is not in their data base. NAPA has nothing for the DII however i cannot say if they have some part that does fit the disco and is just not labeled.

*part number 38018 could fit but you would need new hardware which is not included

Scott.