Originally Posted by
RED DOG
Hello Rob, Finding a bad bearing in my idler pulley was one of my first experiences on CrossfireForum.org . . .
As an additional comment about your original "breakdown" when the idler pulley failed . . . They usually start making A LOT of noise long before a catastrophic failure. You didn't hear any grinding rattling noise coming from the engine compartment? As with most any car, Crossfires have some common issues and / or parts that will often fail. That idler pulley on the SRT6s is one such example. Now that you have the car running again with some off the self part (not even the correct replacement part) it sounds like you want to just run the car until it fails again? Not everyone is a "car guy" and I understand that. Good luck and enjoy your Crossfire . . .
Actually I am a car guy, and an engineer. I was a bit concerned about the bearing size of the new pulley but didn't know it was a common weak spot on the SRT-6. Thanks for making that excellent point. That being said, I decided I would order a new factory pulley from Chrysler ($60) since no auto parts stores even know what I'm talking about. I don't want to go the belt wrap kit route as then I'm locked in to even harder to find stuff should I need it on the road. Anyway, I bought a 36 month/36K mile warranty with the car, mainly since it dropped the loan rate to 2.3% on an 8 year old used car, and I knew it wasn't a cheap car to fix. As it turns out, the idler pulley is covered. Dealer is ordering it for me, and they have to put it in to do it under warranty. Didn't need that, but at least it's a freebie. I'll keep this pulley I have on there for emergencies should I need it in the future. Thanks for your help, this is a great resource!