Haven't driven my truck in two weeks. Went to start it and it was very hard to start. Finally started with a lot of smoke that smelled like burning rubber. Turned it off and opened the hood, I could see the ribbed part of the belt was all wet and melted looking and very hot.

Obviously a pulley seized. I don't have any of my tools with me. Just curious if there's a common culprit? Truck does have ac.

So annoying, I just flew back from Japan and all I want to do is go home. That won't be happening ha.

 

Mine did the same thing on the highway last February. It was the bottom idler pulley.

Pull the belt and spin all pulleys by hand, one will probably be completely frozen. Any others that feel sticky or rough should also be replaced. Any pulleys that are good but have rubber residue on them need to be cleaned. Mine needed the other idler and the tensioner replaced too.

 

Thanks for the reply. I did notice all of the pulleys I could see had rubber residue on them.

I wonder what the local
Ford dealer in this town will charge. I left all of my tools at home. A mistake I'll never make again.

Sucks. I just replaced this belt two months ago and I'm sure they're going to charge me a lot to do that too.

 

Depends on the labor rate and how long to fix. Labor rate where I live is around $80/hr. A simple pulley shouldn't take 30 mins to fix. It is cheaper to take it to a garage most times as long as it's not some numb nut working on it! LOL

 

I had to get towed, this happened to me out in the middle of nowhere on I-80 in Nebraska. Had it towed to Ford, they replaced both idlers, tensioner, one idler bracket, and belt - parts and labor was $600. Their hourly rate was $104.

 

Ouch! Maybe I'll just have them do the pulley and do the cleaning and do the belt myself. I'm sure I could pick up a cresent wrench for pretty cheap.

 

It's the alternator pulley. Just took the belt off, it doesn't spin at all. Local shop said $307 for that including a new belt.

 

That's a decent price, a friend of mine just crapped an alternator on a 5.4 van and the bill was just under $400 at an independent shop without a new belt. See if they will clean the other pulleys too.

 

Definitely the best price in town. Ford dealer wanted over
$400 without the belt.

The guy said he'd clean the other pulleys too. Guess I finally get to go home today. The 13 time difference from Japan and jetlag is killing me.

Thanks for the replies!

 

So are you replacing the alternator or just the pulley?

 

The alternator.