Has anyone ever had a problem with there idler pulley possibly draging or having a bad bearing because one of my idler pulleys is a smooth silver finish and the other one has alot of black marks from the belt and has a very rough surface to it.My truck is going considerably slower all of a sudden with some slipping occuring and my tranny was inspected today and they said it was fine so i thought it could be this.Any ideas appreciated!!!

Matt

 

I haven't heard of any idler pulley problems on these trucks but anythings possible.

I would first take off the belt and see you can spin the pulley and it should spin for awhile by itself. If it seems hard to spin, than that might be a problem. I don't really think it can cause sluggish truck though.

 

Matt,
Is the boost dropping off?
I know there have been a few isolated cases of bad Idlers, but nothing serious. What do you feel is slipping?

 

HighRoller: My idler pulleys look the same way. I think that it is normal. I've seen others also all the same. But like someone posted you can alway's remove the belt and check it to give you peace of mind.

Bill

 

Matt, it is pretty common for the idle pulleys to go bad, on both the blower support and the timing cover for the engine belt. The wear pattern you are seeing is normal. I don't think that something like that could cause the sudden loss of performance that you are seeing though.

 

I also know of a few that installed Idler pulleys from the Explorer motors. I think they are slighly larger, but also offer a lip on the edge as well to keep the belt from walking off.

 

Spiro,
My boost seems to be the same but i have lost 3-4 tenths as of late with no changes done except thermostat.The ford guys pulled the tranny pan and ran a computer check and said my tranny was fine.I feel slipping at a kick down from 60 as soon as i nail it and then again in 2nd at higher rpms.I also believe my contacts on my computer board need build up also because my truck shuts off everyonce in a while while driving even though my chip is taped in,that might even be my problem if all the contacts are not contacting properly.Any thoughts?

 

Sal could probably help with the Tuner Lingo . But I would say that if your feeling that tranny slip, then it is. If your getting the rpm's to climb, and the truck dont feel like its gaining any momentum, I would say its the tranny.
Maybe Sal could help.

As for the contacts. I never had that happen to me, but have seen many that needed their contacts built up. It could be done at home, with some patience of course.

 

And a low wattage soldering iron.

Now that's what I'm talking about. A real discussion.

P.S. Heat the contact and touch the solder to the contact. It will flow evenly and bond better.