Get a standard 3/8" socket wrench, just the socket wrench, you don't need any sockets. Look on the idler pulley bracket for a square hole in the bracket. Place the socket driver in the square hole. You can now easily move the idler pulley to relieve the belt tension and remove the belt. I found that my 3/8" ratcheting socket wrench was too thick in profile to fit in the rather narrow space on my 1998 Cavalier. So, I bought and used a 3/8" breaker bar which happened to have a thinner profile and it fit and worked very well. There is also a thin profile tool made especially for serpentine belts with little clearance at the tensioner.
Most technicians refer to the idler pully for the timing belt as just idler.
I have a knocking noise near the water pump pully or idler arm pully on my 94 chevy cavalier 2.2 motor when its at idle, if i give it more gas the noise will go away do you know what this could be? i took off the tension idle pully and checked the bearing and it was fine.
first you should release the belt tension pully and remove the belt. Then the idler pully has a bolt through the center remove the bolt and the pully should come off.
Unbolt, slide off. Slide on new part, bolt back on.
Pin the top tension idler pully..take the front wheel off...the bottom idler pully is on an excentric...loosen same....belt goes slack.... put new belt on,set the excentric as tight as possible.. remove the pin in the top tension idler pully belt should be tight after doing this... happy days
the idler pully is the top center that that spins freely and is connected to the block.
I don't believe there is an idler pulley on that model, just a tensioner pulley
An idler pulley is a pulley that does not drive and is not connected to any device that is driven. It serves to either tension a belt or to route a belt to clear an obstacle.
Find the idler pully of the serpentine belt system. It is usually the one that appears to not "drive" any system and is normally located towards the top of the other pullys. On the idler pully assembly, you will find a bolt (not the bolt in center of pully or the one at the pivot point of assembly). Using the correct sized socket and a large ratchet (or wrench) as a lever, pull or push the idler pully assembly, which is spring tensioned, until the pully moves in far enough to get new belt on. Slowly release tension until belt is tight against the idler pully under the assembly's spring tension. Be sure belt is properly seated on all pullys without any twists.
idler pulley, the only one that will move
Idler pully.
remove the bolt on the pully or use a pully remover depending on the style of pully and put new one on.