Greetings,
I am new to this forum and I need help with something. I thought I had a bad alternator and proceeded to remove the old one when I realized that the belt that drives the AC compressor and alternator was extremely loose. Happily, I thought this would be a simple idler pulley tightening. However, I cannot seem to get the idler pulley to tighten. The pulley itself can be moved by hand. You can push it into the tension point but then pull on the belt and the tension immediately released. No manipulation of the bolt on the front of the pulley will correct this.

Does this mean the pulley is bad? If so, does anyone have diagrams/schematics on how to replace?

Thanks,

 

2.3 or 2.5?

 

it is the 2.3.... Millenia S

 

the spring that tensions the pulley is broke. your only option is a new or used one. they are pricey:

TENSIONER | Genuine Mazda | KJ02-15-980B

if you want to try used, since there are 2, you need to look for the one with grooves. the other one is smooth. changing it is quite involved. while it will be easy to get off, to install, you will need a serpentine belt tool, unless you are REALLY strong. also, because of clearance, you will have to remove a lot of stuff. frist off, you will have to pull the belt that runs the compressor/waterpump/pwr steering pump. i would pull the oil dipstick for clearance, you can disconnect the crank sensor and let it hang, it attaches to the dipstick tube. you will have to pull off the right front wheel, pull the splash shield, and support the bottom of the engine with a jack. use a piece of wood so you dont damage the oil pan. with the splash shield off, you can see the bolt that holds the dipstick tube to the block. make damn sure you have a pic or a diagram of how the belts are on there, or you will spend a LOT of useless time trying to figure it out. i also always pull off the motor mount, while it can be done with it on, if you pull it off, there is a helluva lot more clearance. also, you will have to pull the upper radiator hose, which means draining the radiator. you will need a serpentine belt tool, unless you are REALLY strong. them tensioners ARE really strong. some have done it with the old 2 open end wrenches trick, i prefer the right tool for the job. i like the gearwrench tool, but it will cost you about 60 bucks. the k&d tool, which is about half, can be made to work(i have both), but the gearwrench tool will cut the time in half, maybe less that that. once all the peripheral stuff is off, you relieve tension on the first belt, and remove it. at this time, you should also check the pulley for smoothness. the bearing goes bad all the time, and you can change just the bearing easily, the bearing only costs about 5 bucks. mazda only sells the tensioners as an assembly. after you pull off the alt belt, you should now take off the pulley. it will be either a 14mm or 17mm, i forget which has which. again, the mazda fsm does not tell you this, but if you take off the pulley, you can easily get to the bolts that hold the rest of the tensioner to the block, and also now it will clear easily. of course, on the new one going on, you should remove the pulley, too. i would not reuse the belts. if you plan on keeping the car for a while, i would suggest getting a new tensioner, otherwise, you may be doing this job again in a short time.