Hey Yall! Save some money! Bearings last a LONG time if you grease them! ● Lucas Red 'N' Tacky: amzn.to/3aeUhSN ● Idler Pulleys: amzn.to/3IY9gy3 Great tip! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
If it's your own go for it don't screw up the seal but a customer's. They get a knew one not my liability.. however my liberty 2.8 the fan bracket bearing was dry not doing to good one one super expensive.... but I figured out how to put a grease zerk in it now it gets a pump of grease when getting serviced
This seems, to me anyway, to be adding to list of unnecessary maintenance chores to delay the inevitable. A sealed bearing is not supposed to dry out if it's good working order. If the seal loses its ability to keep lube in and dirt out it is no longer in good working order and should be replaced. The less there is to service the shorter those regularly scheduled maintenance sessions will last. Remember your time and effort are a cost just as important as a parts cost. Would you really be saving any money by servicing a non serviceable part by design, when it could have been replaced the first time and ignored until or if it fails again.
I can see pressing the bearing out if it's a really new pulley that just happens to be noisy, but come on man the fucking pulley is like 12 bucks with a bearing. Doing shit like this is going to run customers off.
I had to replace the idler pulley on the supercharger belt system of my Buick, that little ass pulley I had to buy was $73 friggin bucks. Just the pulley
And the fact once the seal is taken off if you get it back on probably going to work off at some point and only one of thse is a tension pulley the other two are idler pullys
@@jerrydawg4434 why? You really think if the bearing is only loud and not wobbly that the bearing is completely shot? And how do you figure you’d get stuck or need a tow before hearing the bearing noise again? Assuming you’re doing this to your own car, you’d be mindful enough to check them when they start making noise again.
@@Auto209 because I don't have time to waste. If I'm doing the work I'm doing it the best way possible. When I was young and poor I made due. Now I do it right. Your days obviously aren't as jamb packed as mine to wait for a tow truck or do the job again.
@@jerrydawg4434 who the fuck said there would be a tow truck to be waiting for? Look at you on your superior horse. As if we could know what anyone else’s life looks like. It’s a pulley bearing. It ain’t gonna stop the car from running before you realize it’s bad, IF it was to go bad. You saying that you’ll need a tow truck is skipping over the fact that you would have ignored a problem that you shouldn’t.
As a professional technician I am always tinkered with things like the pulley bearings. I tried this about 15 years ago and it worked amazing. Tried it again at least 10 more times throughout the years and every time the bearing failed within 30-100 miles after lubing them back up. I guess one saved bearing out of 11 is not too bad. What sucks is when a timing cover or component in the belt circuit gets ruined and then you are facing thousands of dollars in repairs for trying to save $20-$50... Definitely ruined some expensive stuff trying to save pulleys on those 10 more that I tried to lube and made worse instead.
I would never use this method on timing components. That's a bad idea. I think your problem is you use too much grease. Too much grease in a ball bearing can cause it to fail because it has to push the grease out of the way of the balls.
@@MattsShop But but but but, the video shows a serpentine belt pulley that came from the front of a timing cover that is being repacked with grease. I own 5 vehicles and every one of them has the pulley route bolted to the timing cover and almost every car I work on Monday through Friday the last 20 years of my life has had the pulleys bolted to the timing cover..
@@jtbuilds9176 I think y'all misunderstood each other. He's talking about pulley on the serpentine drive and you're talking about the pulley failing and cutting a hole in the timing cover. I don't think he understood that's what you meant
The one thing old heads and experience has taught me is to never lubricate bearing that are going out, with any kind of lubricant, your better off just leaving it until you can properly fix it.
@@MidwestBenji Being a master tech of about 20 years now I am again here to say this hack is literally that, a hack job and will cost more in the long run.
That's the whole idea, save money, do the work yourself. As long as you have some tools and a little mechanical ability. Unless you don't like getting your nails dirty.
Unless it’s a flat rate shop. I’ve run into repairs like this. Usually doesn’t add cost the customer usually doesn’t have the money anyways. Better to do what you can to make sure they stay on the road as long as possible i say.
Don't do this unless you can't afford to buy bearings this is at best a short-term fix. If the bearing can be pressed or driven out it can be matched and just the bearing replaced. If the pulley is plastic I recommend replacing the assembly, as the plastic can be gouged or split when you try to press the old one out. 37 years as a automotive mechanic has shown me you don't want to take chances with this. Failure of a pulley and the subsequent damage to the accessory drive when the belt is thrown is far more expensive than the bearings.
Yep. Bearings are designed to ... bear the brunt of the wear. Failing to replace the wearing part when it's showing signs of wear is a damn amateur mistake.
That’s a good tip if you’re in a bind but you can get the belt and “component kit” that comes with that idler and in many cases it’s cheaper than buying the belt and tensioner (with pulley) and no idler. Later ✌️
A squeaky pully is not what I'd call, in a bind... Why would you go thru the trouble of removing the old part, just to put it back on. Mark this as another "useless life hack"
@@twofeetitis so not having to spend any cash on a part that could possibly just need some lubricant it useless... Would you consider a brush replacement on a alternator a useless hack because its still the same "used" alternator?
Just find the correct bearing and press the old one out and press in the new one and you're good to go except the plastic idlers that have the bearings molded in
@@MattsShopcause you should just replace if making noise and use white lithium squeeze bottle not spray if you are cleaning them/lubing while doing other work.
I had that happen in yellowstone. When the belt came off it cut the pig tail wire to the AC compressor right through the plug flush with the caseing. Well it was a 1994 Chevey at that point I was done putting money in it and no AC ment bye bye truck.
I used to do the same with skateboard wheel bearings when I was younger lol If the bearing is wobbly you can also find the same bearing for cheap, knock the old one out and replace it
This is why I ran ABEC 5 bearings in my old Tony Hawk. Hoover NSK...yeah they were 125 bucks but they are still on the road 35 years later and have survived a few dozen decks across several people. Sealed bearings should never ever require maintenance if they are quality. Mine came from Germany..not China
@@netrioter I loved the old Lucky ABEC-7 bearings. Now I have Red ABEC-5 and it's just as good I feel. Always on the look out for great skateboard bearings.
This might be overkill on servicing bearings but I like to wash it them in an ultrasonic cleaner, blast out the water and any excessive grease with an air compresser, rinse in wd40, and blast away any residual wd40 with the air compressor. This will give a virgin bearing but at least when packing grease, you won't have dirt and old grease contaminating the new bearing. Good video and great info!👍
Thanks Matt, what is the bearing #? Regrease or replace is the quick inexpensive fix. Nice to see someone actually rebuilding something instead of spending someone else’s money!
brothers, do this for the first time when you buy the tensioner pulley, even if it is new. the bearing has very little poor quality grease. so, yes, I confirm this video 100%. quality information.🤙👍
If the bearing is making noise and is dry. It's junk. No amount of grease will save it. Plus, if the pulley has been in service let's just say 100k miles It's probably worn out and junk also. Just change the whole damn pulley. There not that expensive and it's cheap Maintenance compared to calling a tow truck.
Another option with the pulley you were showing is to just simply replace the bearing. I’ve done this on all my cars and the bearings are usually five to $10 at my local Bearing shop. I have a press but I usually just take a punch and hammer and knock the old one out and tap the new one in carefully.
Truth. A noisy bearing is an unhappy one. Regreasing is okay in a pinch, but you have to flag it for future issues. I've done this in late hours, shops are closed, and a buddy needs his ride in the morning.
Good idea when doing PM to just clean & grease them and check belt wear. Spin water pump, etc to make sure no issues. If it’s making noise I would just replace though. Also would use white lithium grease not red& tacky.
Thanks; I found the number from another RUclips video. These are really common bearings and can be purchased locally from most automotive suppliers ie NAPA,Parts Source etc. Again I thank you for your excellent advice and commend you for some great insight!👍
I'm shouting at the screen nnnnnooooooooo. I have done this with rc bearings(hobby grade, not Wal-Mart shit), and thats fibe because it's a rc truck. I have to count on my ride to get me and my son places, the peace of mind is worth 20 bucks
Totally right, if a bearing is making noise then it's screwed already. More grease may keep it quiet for a little while but it's living on borrowed time.
The 17 year olds guide to engine maintenance. Why not wait until the tensioner seizes up and shredds the belt completely and don't bother doing the water pump either 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This worked on 1999 Chevy Vortec 5.7 V8. Thank You for video. I love the internet. You are fulfilling 2nd greatest commandment to love your neighbor. Hope you get extra points in Heaven.
As a bearing salesman let me shine a little light on this situation. Yes if you are extremely careful sometimes you can re pack these bearings, that one looks like a 6203 2rs it’s a fairly common bearing used in multiple applications from overhead doors to lawn mowers and even blenders. But listen carefully in the video he say it had just started squeaking and did not have any wobble in the inner race. That bearing could be greased and may go for a little while longer however if your bearing has any wobble at all in the inner race just buy a new one it’s only 6 bucks.
Go to local Napa! They’ll have a metal encased bearing which meets the same F3 (fit, form, function) for like $7. Just replace the bearing if the pulley is in great shape.
You didn't put the pulley back on so we can see half a story has never been told you just wasted 30 seconds of my life and I will never ever get back again good day sir lol
Only temporary because the races and rolling elements have tiny chips and the added grease only cushions for a short time. You can get by a little longer if you take off both seals and wash out the old grease and all the tiny metal fragments before regreasing.
For year i had issues with noisy pullies on my 04 2.4 frontier....so after seeing a similar video about added grease...i decided to buy new one and see how much grease is in there to start....there is a dab of white grease barely covering the bearings..i added some red wheel bearing grease and have had no issue since. So add grease to the new ones...will surely last a long time...
If it dries up, a shop sells a new one so it doesn't come back in a month complaining. You can get the part and put it on yourself if you're like that. If you have all day and everyday, keep lubing it, but not to excess.
I do my own car maintenance and for friends occasionally. I'd never leave in a noisy bearing. All that does is buy time, how much is always a gamble. I'm also a maintenance technician and we change bearings often. Best to put a new bearing in something, the more work to reach the bearing the less reason to not press a new one on there.
Hack job. Once a bearing starts making noise metal damage has begun, and adding grease does not remove the damage. Also way too much grease added. In a tiny high speed sealed bearing like that, the excess grease has no where to go and so it overheats the bearing and breaks the grease down. Also if you mix two different types of grease it causes bad chemical reactions that will cause ruin. So randomly stuffing grease into noisy bearings is just setting you up for a catastrophic failure, and while it might make it quieter for a while, it probably won't actually extend the life by very much, and gives you a false sense of security because it's not making noise, meanwhile the grease is filled with metal particles from the wearing bearing and acting like grinding compound, until it wears badly enough it falls off and strands you, and possibly destroys your timing cover at the same time. And remember, if you spend the $20 on a new idler, it will probably last another 10 years, where this might last a few days weeks or months, and is just a bad investment in time and labor. If I caught a mechanic doing this to my vehicle, I would demand a refund and take it to a competent mechanic. And I say this a a diesel/industrial mechanic with training lubrication technology, and a lot of experience with proper bearing lubrication in various situations.
It's best to use a "Synthetic Grease" that type of Grease is the best because it doesn't break down as quickly as your conventional Grease. If you have a sealed bearing that is literally sealed, where the seal is made of metal and can't be broken, drill yourself some small holes and use a needle greaser to inject the grease in it. Once that's done you can use the red permatex gasket maker to seal it.
If you can hear a bearing, greasing it will only net you a very limited amount of time. Those pulleys move at massively high speed. Once noise presents itself it is guaranteed that damage has occurred to the ball bearings and races inside. Even if you can't easily see it. The sound is from metal wearing on metal. Greasing it will hide the sound, but will not repair damage. Eventually the bearing will fail, and it will most likely happen under full engine load. Meaning you're driving. Probably going somewhere further than just up to the grocery store. If you hear noise and have access to a press or vice you should change the bearing at the minimum. Off the top of my head I think the part number is 62032rsj. You can find them at any part store. 8-25 dollars. On average the new pulleys with bearing run from 15-40 dollars. Most in the low to mid 30s. The tensioner many times is fine. If you can easily move it by hand then it may need changing, otherwise you can just change the pulley. However, if your engine is high mileage and your pulleys are all shot, changing the tensioner should be considered. You can get belt/tensioner/pulley kits ranging from 80-150 dollars. They come with the belt, tensioner, and one or more idler pulleys for the application. Greasing a bearing after it's loud enough for you to realize it is a problem is not a good idea.
Not regarding replacement but I use a needle grease gun fitting to inject grease into items like these and sealed ball joints etc. Don’t overfill them but for my money it’s a great way to lubricate things like that. My pet peeve is no grease fittings on vehicles anymore.
The question is, how did you charge him? Did you charge him extra labor, if so how much? Seems scamish imo. New pulleys come in component kits, usually much cheaper than buying the individual components by themselves.
I'm gonna go through all of the trouble of taking my belt drive apart to replace something like a water pump and then save 10 bucks by not replacing a idler pulley because I want to press a new bearing in place instead thus putting the entire system at risk.
Yes. The pulleys are metal and it takes about 2 minutes to do with new high quality bearings. Been doing it for years with ill effects. Wont work with plastic ones
Get a roll of 12 online of good quality bearings from Germany it’s better then what you could buy new an I’ve gotten way more life out of them. Was 1/5th the price to don’t need much more then a hammer socket and vice. Edit Take one of the pulleys off to get the part number.
The plastic pulleys should always be replaced with new ones when replacing the belt. The grooves in the pulleys get worn just like the belt grooves do. Plus, alot of the plastic pulleys have stress cracks in them that may or may not be seen due to heat cycling. The steel pulleys can have the bearings changed if you want. But, for the added labor you pay to swap out the bearing you might as well change the whole pulley. And as far as tensioners are concerned... steel pulley or plastic... always replace them when you change belts. It's what the belt wants so that it lasts the intended life of the system. Unless of course if it's a manual tensioner. Then, just change the entire pulley.
I'm sorry that's not regular maintenance, PM's are replacing them. Only in a pinch or in an emergency to get it home. Spend the $90 to get the set with belt kit is a good practice. Once the seal is removed that bearing will dry out faster and seize.
I usually just use my Redz Bones skate bearing lube on em if they are in good shape. It does the trick and I haven’t had any complaints about it either
Time is money. This Costs you time AND money to go back in and replace this thing the second time after it fails. Do it right the first time and you won’t have a problem.
If pulley is loud enough to be noticeable, bearing probably is gone too far anyway. If it wasn't noticeably loud, but you can hear a little noise when turned by hand, probably worth regressing. Usually original pulleys have better quality bearing than cheap aftermarket ones. 3 pulleys I bought from Advance Auto lasted only 4 years. :(
Damage is already done to the bearing once it starts making noise. The balls and the race area have wear and pitting which you hear when it rotates under belt tension. Adding grease only masks the problem temporarily…
Hey Yall! Save some money! Bearings last a LONG time if you grease them!
● Lucas Red 'N' Tacky: amzn.to/3aeUhSN
● Idler Pulleys: amzn.to/3IY9gy3
Great tip!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
You could spray them out with brake clean but you are right a lil grease you’ll save yourself a shit load of time and hassle.
If it's your own go for it don't screw up the seal but a customer's. They get a knew one not my liability.. however my liberty 2.8 the fan bracket bearing was dry not doing to good one one super expensive.... but I figured out how to put a grease zerk in it now it gets a pump of grease when getting serviced
This seems, to me anyway, to be adding to list of unnecessary maintenance chores to delay the inevitable. A sealed bearing is not supposed to dry out if it's good working order. If the seal loses its ability to keep lube in and dirt out it is no longer in good working order and should be replaced. The less there is to service the shorter those regularly scheduled maintenance sessions will last. Remember your time and effort are a cost just as important as a parts cost. Would you really be saving any money by servicing a non serviceable part by design, when it could have been replaced the first time and ignored until or if it fails again.
Dude idler pulleys are like 10$
No. swap the bearing
I can see pressing the bearing out if it's a really new pulley that just happens to be noisy, but come on man the fucking pulley is like 12 bucks with a bearing. Doing shit like this is going to run customers off.
I had to replace the idler pulley on the supercharger belt system of my Buick, that little ass pulley I had to buy was $73 friggin bucks. Just the pulley
@@danielfinney4295 it was for a supercharger so of course it's going to be expensive.
And the fact once the seal is taken off if you get it back on probably going to work off at some point and only one of thse is a tension pulley the other two are idler pullys
@@danielfinney4295 lmao no shit it's a performance part....
@@danielfinney4295 please tell me it's a GNX
‘And I sold the customer ‘new’ pulleys’
Always worth a new bearing or pulley. Getting stuck or needing a tow is worth the cost of 10 of these....
A properly working bearing that needs grease and gets it in time is acceptable.
@@gaineyproductions2725 ONLY if a new part is unavailable.
@@jerrydawg4434 why? You really think if the bearing is only loud and not wobbly that the bearing is completely shot?
And how do you figure you’d get stuck or need a tow before hearing the bearing noise again?
Assuming you’re doing this to your own car, you’d be mindful enough to check them when they start making noise again.
@@Auto209 because I don't have time to waste. If I'm doing the work I'm doing it the best way possible. When I was young and poor I made due. Now I do it right. Your days obviously aren't as jamb packed as mine to wait for a tow truck or do the job again.
@@jerrydawg4434 who the fuck said there would be a tow truck to be waiting for? Look at you on your superior horse. As if we could know what anyone else’s life looks like. It’s a pulley bearing. It ain’t gonna stop the car from running before you realize it’s bad, IF it was to go bad. You saying that you’ll need a tow truck is skipping over the fact that you would have ignored a problem that you shouldn’t.
Just replace the bearings, they are loud cos they are foooked
Also looks to me like he used garden hose washers to fix it.
@@Allen-ch1cy huh?
Throw away generation.
You're being loud sooo later .
The cost to do this is probably close to a new idler.
As a professional technician I am always tinkered with things like the pulley bearings. I tried this about 15 years ago and it worked amazing. Tried it again at least 10 more times throughout the years and every time the bearing failed within 30-100 miles after lubing them back up. I guess one saved bearing out of 11 is not too bad. What sucks is when a timing cover or component in the belt circuit gets ruined and then you are facing thousands of dollars in repairs for trying to save $20-$50... Definitely ruined some expensive stuff trying to save pulleys on those 10 more that I tried to lube and made worse instead.
I would never use this method on timing components. That's a bad idea.
I think your problem is you use too much grease. Too much grease in a ball bearing can cause it to fail because it has to push the grease out of the way of the balls.
@@MattsShop But but but but, the video shows a serpentine belt pulley that came from the front of a timing cover that is being repacked with grease. I own 5 vehicles and every one of them has the pulley route bolted to the timing cover and almost every car I work on Monday through Friday the last 20 years of my life has had the pulleys bolted to the timing cover..
@@jtbuilds9176 I think y'all misunderstood each other. He's talking about pulley on the serpentine drive and you're talking about the pulley failing and cutting a hole in the timing cover. I don't think he understood that's what you meant
The one thing old heads and experience has taught me is to never lubricate bearing that are going out, with any kind of lubricant, your better off just leaving it until you can properly fix it.
@@MidwestBenji Being a master tech of about 20 years now I am again here to say this hack is literally that, a hack job and will cost more in the long run.
Cheaper for the home mechanic, but a shop will charge you an hourly rate to do that that'll cost more than just buying a new one.
As a tech, the above statement is so true.
Time is money for everyone. A pulley is $20-40 and minutes to install, versus 30+ minutes to remove, open up, grease, seal back up, and install.
That's the whole idea, save money, do the work yourself. As long as you have some tools and a little mechanical ability. Unless you don't like getting your nails dirty.
@@wiz4020 You would have to start greasing it wayyy earlier to make it last. Once it makes noise, its too late to grease it!
Unless it’s a flat rate shop.
I’ve run into repairs like this. Usually doesn’t add cost the customer usually doesn’t have the money anyways. Better to do what you can to make sure they stay on the road as long as possible i say.
Don't do this unless you can't afford to buy bearings this is at best a short-term fix. If the bearing can be pressed or driven out it can be matched and just the bearing replaced. If the pulley is plastic I recommend replacing the assembly, as the plastic can be gouged or split when you try to press the old one out. 37 years as a automotive mechanic has shown me you don't want to take chances with this. Failure of a pulley and the subsequent damage to the accessory drive when the belt is thrown is far more expensive than the bearings.
Yep. Bearings are designed to ... bear the brunt of the wear. Failing to replace the wearing part when it's showing signs of wear is a damn amateur mistake.
can i put expensive skateboard bearings? like bones ceramic
That’s a good tip if you’re in a bind but you can get the belt and “component kit” that comes with that idler and in many cases it’s cheaper than buying the belt and tensioner (with pulley) and no idler. Later ✌️
Laaaaatttteeeerrrrrr!!!!
It’s cheaper if you buy aftermarket. OEM is almost always better and more expensive because of that.
A squeaky pully is not what I'd call, in a bind... Why would you go thru the trouble of removing the old part, just to put it back on. Mark this as another "useless life hack"
Exactly
@@twofeetitis so not having to spend any cash on a part that could possibly just need some lubricant it useless... Would you consider a brush replacement on a alternator a useless hack because its still the same "used" alternator?
Just find the correct bearing and press the old one out and press in the new one and you're good to go except the plastic idlers that have the bearings molded in
That’s what I do, most are a 6000 series bearing anyway.
This is a great way to do the job twice.
I've done that you can also knock the bearing out and replace it for less than half the price of a new pulley
Correct far better than trusting a knackered old bearing.
👍👍I’ve done that actually.
I would never take my cars to a mechanic like you 😂
Why not?
@@MattsShopcause you should just replace if making noise and use white lithium squeeze bottle not spray if you are cleaning them/lubing while doing other work.
I’m just going to buy a new one. I don’t want to get out on the road in the middle of nowhere and the bearing seize up!!
Yep... Don't pay attention to the doorknobs on RUclips.
I had that happen in yellowstone. When the belt came off it cut the pig tail wire to the AC compressor right through the plug flush with the caseing. Well it was a 1994 Chevey at that point I was done putting money in it and no AC ment bye bye truck.
I used to do the same with skateboard wheel bearings when I was younger lol
If the bearing is wobbly you can also find the same bearing for cheap, knock the old one out and replace it
You're a smart man
This is why I ran ABEC 5 bearings in my old Tony Hawk. Hoover NSK...yeah they were 125 bucks but they are still on the road 35 years later and have survived a few dozen decks across several people. Sealed bearings should never ever require maintenance if they are quality. Mine came from Germany..not China
@@netrioter I loved the old Lucky ABEC-7 bearings. Now I have Red ABEC-5 and it's just as good I feel. Always on the look out for great skateboard bearings.
@@ThatGuy-vi8chBones Reds Supers
Or just swap the bearing it's a common bearing used in pool motors it's a 6203d bearing. It's like 3 many 4 bucks
This might be overkill on servicing bearings but I like to wash it them in an ultrasonic cleaner, blast out the water and any excessive grease with an air compresser, rinse in wd40, and blast away any residual wd40 with the air compressor. This will give a virgin bearing but at least when packing grease, you won't have dirt and old grease contaminating the new bearing. Good video and great info!👍
Absolutely 100% right! Plus you change knock those bearings out and replace them alone on the cheap too, really common and widely used bearings
If they are loud, they are on the verge of being bad, if they aren't already. If they are already off, replace them.
Thanks Matt, what is the bearing #? Regrease or replace is the quick inexpensive fix. Nice to see someone actually rebuilding something instead of spending someone else’s money!
I am not sure what the bearing number is. It probably has a number stamped on it.
Great way to have a pulley lock up and break your new belt👌🏻
YEA RIGHT!
brothers, do this for the first time when you buy the tensioner pulley, even if it is new. the bearing has very little poor quality grease. so, yes, I confirm this video 100%. quality information.🤙👍
If the bearing is making noise and is dry. It's junk. No amount of grease will save it. Plus, if the pulley has been in service let's just say 100k miles It's probably worn out and junk also. Just change the whole damn pulley. There not that expensive and it's cheap Maintenance compared to calling a tow truck.
Another option with the pulley you were showing is to just simply replace the bearing. I’ve done this on all my cars and the bearings are usually five to $10 at my local Bearing shop. I have a press but I usually just take a punch and hammer and knock the old one out and tap the new one in carefully.
Re replace the centre bearing and they are like $2 lol
Or do that!
Truth. A noisy bearing is an unhappy one. Regreasing is okay in a pinch, but you have to flag it for future issues. I've done this in late hours, shops are closed, and a buddy needs his ride in the morning.
$2 for a no-name Chinese one. Find a good quality bearing for a few bucks more if you want it to last.
@@bigpjohnson SKF never had a come back because of the bearings in over a decade.
@@BigBoyNowYT skf bearings are incredible
Loud and proud. That's how we roll 🤘 but not feeling so proud when the car breaks down on the side of the road
new pulleys are like $7 to $20 each?? on Rockauto, why bother?
Good idea when doing PM to just clean & grease them and check belt wear. Spin water pump, etc to make sure no issues. If it’s making noise I would just replace though. Also would use white lithium grease not red& tacky.
Thanks; I found the number from another RUclips video. These are really common bearings and can be purchased locally from most automotive suppliers ie NAPA,Parts Source etc.
Again I thank you for your excellent advice and commend you for some great insight!👍
Tip: pry from the inner lip, if you damage the seal grease will stay inside.
Yup beat me to it!!
I'm glad you made a video about this .It works on a squeaky alternator to that back bearing is usually the one that squeak's.
Always cut towards yourself.
I'm having belt noise right now. Definitely looks worth doing 👌
You don’t even know how to take the seal off bro...
I'm shouting at the screen nnnnnooooooooo. I have done this with rc bearings(hobby grade, not Wal-Mart shit), and thats fibe because it's a rc truck. I have to count on my ride to get me and my son places, the peace of mind is worth 20 bucks
Let’s not be so cheap. New bearing is a couple bucks. Replace the bearing. Good shape is a relative term
NO. Be cheap it is your friend.
If it's already making noise, the only thing im doing with the bearing is replacing it.
Totally right, if a bearing is making noise then it's screwed already. More grease may keep it quiet for a little while but it's living on borrowed time.
The 17 year olds guide to engine maintenance. Why not wait until the tensioner seizes up and shredds the belt completely and don't bother doing the water pump either 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
You can put a new bearing in them
I usually knock the bearing out and replace it keeping the original pulley. Nice tip .
I always do that first because they don't put enough grease in there to begin with. 😊
My favorite viewer
Lmao come on bro , the pulley is what 15-20 bucks … Jesus
Free sounds better
Looks like an LS engine 🤔
Sure is. I could tell by:
1. Water pump look and placement
2. Mention of separate tensioner for AC Compressor
Probably he replaced the pump but the noise is still there, so he covered his ass by greasing the bearings so customer will be Happpppy 😃
"tricks" new word for poor I guess
Keep up the great content
Thanks, I will!
I usually take the seals out with a pick and use white lithium grease . But I'll try red and tacky. Good tip
This worked on 1999 Chevy Vortec 5.7 V8. Thank You for video. I love the internet. You are fulfilling 2nd greatest commandment to love your neighbor. Hope you get extra points in Heaven.
You're welcome!!
As a bearing salesman let me shine a little light on this situation. Yes if you are extremely careful sometimes you can re pack these bearings, that one looks like a 6203 2rs it’s a fairly common bearing used in multiple applications from overhead doors to lawn mowers and even blenders. But listen carefully in the video he say it had just started squeaking and did not have any wobble in the inner race. That bearing could be greased and may go for a little while longer however if your bearing has any wobble at all in the inner race just buy a new one it’s only 6 bucks.
I have been doing this for over 10 years. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. 👍
I’ve definitely done this before when I was in college and so broke I was eating a steady diet of Top Ramen. 👍
Go to local Napa! They’ll have a metal encased bearing which meets the same F3 (fit, form, function) for like $7. Just replace the bearing if the pulley is in great shape.
Giving the customer a new reason to say, "but I seen on the internet....."
I done this on a customers van to stop the noise whilst waiting for the new part and the fix lasted a day luckily his part had turned up
Been doing this for years. I have taken bearing that was frozen and made the workable enough to put them back to use if they were smooth running
Great information. Thanks
You're welcome
When the ad says “Mechanic special”
It's good that you're sharing this but I think a little like you and I've been doing that for a while on my own vehicles.
Been there, done that. I also keep a stack of 6203 bearings in the shop.
You didn't put the pulley back on so we can see half a story has never been told you just wasted 30 seconds of my life and I will never ever get back again good day sir lol
Wtf??? Just grease your bearings or replace them. It's just a tip. Don't like it? Don't do it.
Glad you talked about it before I did cuz I was about to go off
So much waste in the world. It’s good to see people using their head
Everyone likes being cheap until it leaves them stranded on the side of the road.
Replace it and be done with it
This goes in the "just because you can doesn't mean you should" bin.
Only temporary because the races and rolling elements have tiny chips and the added grease only cushions for a short time.
You can get by a little longer if you take off both seals and wash out the old grease and all the tiny metal fragments before regreasing.
For year i had issues with noisy pullies on my 04 2.4 frontier....so after seeing a similar video about added grease...i decided to buy new one and see how much grease is in there to start....there is a dab of white grease barely covering the bearings..i added some red wheel bearing grease and have had no issue since. So add grease to the new ones...will surely last a long time...
DONE THAT...WORKS GREAT!!!
Lucas red n tacky FTW 🤘🏻
If it dries up, a shop sells a new one so it doesn't come back in a month complaining.
You can get the part and put it on yourself if you're like that.
If you have all day and everyday, keep lubing it, but not to excess.
I do my own car maintenance and for friends occasionally. I'd never leave in a noisy bearing. All that does is buy time, how much is always a gamble. I'm also a maintenance technician and we change bearings often. Best to put a new bearing in something, the more work to reach the bearing the less reason to not press a new one on there.
Hack job. Once a bearing starts making noise metal damage has begun, and adding grease does not remove the damage. Also way too much grease added.
In a tiny high speed sealed bearing like that, the excess grease has no where to go and so it overheats the bearing and breaks the grease down.
Also if you mix two different types of grease it causes bad chemical reactions that will cause ruin.
So randomly stuffing grease into noisy bearings is just setting you up for a catastrophic failure, and while it might make it quieter for a while, it probably won't actually extend the life by very much, and gives you a false sense of security because it's not making noise, meanwhile the grease is filled with metal particles from the wearing bearing and acting like grinding compound, until it wears badly enough it falls off and strands you, and possibly destroys your timing cover at the same time.
And remember, if you spend the $20 on a new idler, it will probably last another 10 years, where this might last a few days weeks or months, and is just a bad investment in time and labor.
If I caught a mechanic doing this to my vehicle, I would demand a refund and take it to a competent mechanic.
And I say this a a diesel/industrial mechanic with training lubrication technology, and a lot of experience with proper bearing lubrication in various situations.
It's best to use a "Synthetic Grease" that type of Grease is the best because it doesn't break down as quickly as your conventional Grease. If you have a sealed bearing that is literally sealed, where the seal is made of metal and can't be broken, drill yourself some small holes and use a needle greaser to inject the grease in it. Once that's done you can use the red permatex gasket maker to seal it.
Great tip. I also like to save money, so when i rebuild engines i rub JB weld on the main bearings to resurface them instead of buying new ones
If you can hear a bearing, greasing it will only net you a very limited amount of time. Those pulleys move at massively high speed. Once noise presents itself it is guaranteed that damage has occurred to the ball bearings and races inside. Even if you can't easily see it.
The sound is from metal wearing on metal. Greasing it will hide the sound, but will not repair damage. Eventually the bearing will fail, and it will most likely happen under full engine load. Meaning you're driving. Probably going somewhere further than just up to the grocery store.
If you hear noise and have access to a press or vice you should change the bearing at the minimum. Off the top of my head I think the part number is 62032rsj. You can find them at any part store. 8-25 dollars.
On average the new pulleys with bearing run from 15-40 dollars. Most in the low to mid 30s.
The tensioner many times is fine. If you can easily move it by hand then it may need changing, otherwise you can just change the pulley. However, if your engine is high mileage and your pulleys are all shot, changing the tensioner should be considered.
You can get belt/tensioner/pulley kits ranging from 80-150 dollars. They come with the belt, tensioner, and one or more idler pulleys for the application.
Greasing a bearing after it's loud enough for you to realize it is a problem is not a good idea.
Why waste your time just replace the bearing. You can get two or three for like 10 bucks on Amazon and it’ll be repacking the old one
Not regarding replacement but I use a needle grease gun fitting to inject grease into items like these and sealed ball joints etc. Don’t overfill them but for my money it’s a great way to lubricate things like that. My pet peeve is no grease fittings on vehicles anymore.
Nah just being cheap he really said maintenance 😂😂
Every skaterboarder knew this, nice one
The question is, how did you charge him? Did you charge him extra labor, if so how much? Seems scamish imo. New pulleys come in component kits, usually much cheaper than buying the individual components by themselves.
I'm gonna go through all of the trouble of taking my belt drive apart to replace something like a water pump and then save 10 bucks by not replacing a idler pulley because I want to press a new bearing in place instead thus putting the entire system at risk.
Yes.
The pulleys are metal and it takes about 2 minutes to do with new high quality bearings.
Been doing it for years with ill effects. Wont work with plastic ones
@@jjjsmith2497 That's a lot of extra effort to save literally a few bucks at the cost of peace of mind.
@@aland7236
Not if your out in the middle of nowhere.
Very easy to do
Ok earned my subscription
I did that all the time on my 500k mile hotshot econolines
Wow! Now you can drive another 100 miles quiet!
Lasted over 30,000 miles.
Get a roll of 12 online of good quality bearings from Germany it’s better then what you could buy new an I’ve gotten way more life out of them. Was 1/5th the price to don’t need much more then a hammer socket and vice. Edit Take one of the pulleys off to get the part number.
It’s like a skate bearing. Quick clean and grease and fast af boi
GM is renowned for having bad tensioners that make noise. I have replaced them and had them making noise the next day.
Love the fact that you're not wearing gloves..
Thx for the great tip
Awesome video
Glad you enjoyed it
The plastic pulleys should always be replaced with new ones when replacing the belt. The grooves in the pulleys get worn just like the belt grooves do. Plus, alot of the plastic pulleys have stress cracks in them that may or may not be seen due to heat cycling. The steel pulleys can have the bearings changed if you want. But, for the added labor you pay to swap out the bearing you might as well change the whole pulley. And as far as tensioners are concerned... steel pulley or plastic... always replace them when you change belts. It's what the belt wants so that it lasts the intended life of the system. Unless of course if it's a manual tensioner. Then, just change the entire pulley.
I'm sorry that's not regular maintenance, PM's are replacing them. Only in a pinch or in an emergency to get it home. Spend the $90 to get the set with belt kit is a good practice. Once the seal is removed that bearing will dry out faster and seize.
If it was dry the damage has already been done just replace he bearing for 6 bucks
I usually just use my Redz Bones skate bearing lube on em if they are in good shape. It does the trick and I haven’t had any complaints about it either
Look at this guy telling everyone what most skaters could've told ya. ;)
Next you’ll tell us to flip the serpentine belt over to get more miles out of the other unused side lol.
Life hack!
Time is money. This Costs you time AND money to go back in and replace this thing the second time after it fails. Do it right the first time and you won’t have a problem.
Do you hose down the oil filter and put it back too?
This works. I’ve done it. When it fails again, probably time to replace it. It’s been 6 year now, still waiting for it to fail.
fossil fuel vehicles be like.... feed me feed me
Wd40 cleans out all the old grease, so the new grease isnt as contaminated. However time vs money. Is 15 dollars worth 45 minutes of your time?
If pulley is loud enough to be noticeable, bearing probably is gone too far anyway. If it wasn't noticeably loud, but you can hear a little noise when turned by hand, probably worth regressing. Usually original pulleys have better quality bearing than cheap aftermarket ones. 3 pulleys I bought from Advance Auto lasted only 4 years. :(
Damage is already done to the bearing once it starts making noise. The balls and the race area have wear and pitting which you hear when it rotates under belt tension. Adding grease only masks the problem temporarily…