Does anyone here re-pack the pulley bearings?

[cn90]

As the tile says: Does anyone here re-pack the pulley bearings?

It is a question of principles, and not so much costs as most pulleys are not that expensive ($20-$30/each).
To be honest with you guys, I usually replace pulleys when they get old @ 100K+ miles.

But the other day I was thinking: at 100K miles, as part of maintenance:
- Remove the pulley(s) (TB area has 2 pulleys, serpentine belt area has 2 pulleys)
- Check for any play, if there is play get new pulley, if not...
- Gently pry the seal (yes, if you are careful you can pry it)
- Wash the pulleys in solvent to clean all grease, then dry them under the sun.
- Pack new HD grease
- Re-install the seal properly

In fact, I just re-packed new grease in all the pulleys on my 1998 BMW 528i (grease dried out) and all is quiet now.

Just a thought....

[Matty Moo]

I don't think I would.

[rspi]

No. If they had grease points I likely would but not a sealed unit.

[cn90]

Below is link from BMW E39 forum, but you can see they re-grease the pulleys.
Very very very easy to do once you have the pulley out.

See the pics by in post #5 "JimLev":
http://forum.roadfly.com/threads/131433 ... tensioners

Also post #8 "JimLev":
http://forum.roadfly.com/threads/129912 ... B-s-needed

[Matty Moo]

The pulleys for the serp belt....maybe. For what they cost and the service life you get out of them I'd just get new anyway.

No way on the any of the timing pulleys.

I have a box of used timing pulleys in my attic, at least five or six. I'll pop a seal off of one and take a look next time I'm out there piddling around. No way I'll use one though.

[pkc303]

New ones would be a safer bet.

[jimmy57]

I repack bearings on ag implements all the time. Not after they get loose or noisy but to make them last.
If you have a good, quiet bearing that isn't loose and you want it to last longer it will do that for you assuming the seal isn't cut or deformed in the process.
I wouldn't do timing belt rollers.
I have done loads of driveshaft center bearings over the years when I had the shaft out for a u joint or to replace the older rubber supports when they were separate pieces.

[cn90]

In this thread, precopster showed people how to replace just the bearing on the serpentine belt pulley's bearing using 6203LH NTN bearing:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=36365

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So I removed my serpentine belt for inspection. At 120K, the tensioner pulley bearing has some play and spins freely when I spin it. Ditto for the Idler Pulley.

All of automotive belt pulleys are basically ball bearings but with a sleeve (could be metal or plastic) on the outside to make the O.D. larger. But technically speaking a pulley is a ball bearing.

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So this is my thinking for ALL of the pulleys:

- TB Tensioner Pulley: best is to replace at 120K
- TB Idler Pulley: best is to replace at 120K
- Water Pump bearing: surprisingly the factory Aisin WP can last as short as 130K or as long as 200K.
I am amazed that the Aisin WP bearing is so good.
However, if you have more than 140K, replace the WP anyway b/c when it fails, your engine is cooked.

- Serp Belt Tensioner Pulley: best is to replace at 120K
- Serp Belt Idler Pulley: best is to replace at 120K

- Alternator Front Bearing. The alternator has 2 bearings: 1 large and 1 small.
The larger is on the front. Surprisingly at 120K, it has no play and does not spin freely at all.
So leave this alone until 160K or so. At that time, replace the front bearing + Voltage Regulator.

- PS pump's bearing is bathed in PS fluid, so should last a long time.

- AC Compressor Pulley Bearing: does not freely spin at 120K.
Probably lasts to about 180K or so.

As we talked about, the number 1 cause of bearing failure is lack of lubrication.

I think for the sake of discussion, if people religiously remove TB pulleys x2, serp belt pulleys x2 and repack them every 30K-40K, they should last very long. But nobody does that.

cn90
98 V70 120K miles

[precopster]

I agree with cn90. If you catch them early before they start rumbling I don't see why not. In large format printers I used to repack only high quality bearings on the fuser roller where temperatures exceed 190deg C such as NTN or SKC and use the Castrol blue disc brake grease after a good flush with spirits. The trick is to remove the grease cap without deforming it. Jeweller screwdrivers slowly pry the cap little by little nicely.

Of course you'd want to have a spare one available in case you botch it

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[erikv11]

I dunno, cn90's V70 is unusual with its low miles; planning jobs to do at 160k is a bit over the top. 160k is nothing on these cars! Right now the great majority of 850s and early x70s are at the 180k - 220k mileage range, and among them bearing failure in the alternator or AC compressor is extremely rare. So replacement at 160k seems wasteful, that is not high mileage at all for these engines (or their accessories). I wouldn't mess with those particular bearings until they get noisy or there was some other reason to remove the units.