| Author | Message | ||
     Randy Roberson Prolific User Username: wascator Post Number: 229 Registered: 5-2009 |
Hi, since I have Her fan off for refinishing, and am replacing belts, hoses, et al, what about the bearing life of the idler-tensioner for the twin fan drive belts? If this can be repaired by replacing the bearing, now would be a good time to do it. Is this a practical job? | ||
| Daniel Diewerge Experienced User Username: didi13109 Post Number: 40 Registered: 11-2009 |
Hello Randy, as soon as you can feel the slightest play in the bearing, it should be replaced. Unfortunately, the bearing is practically impossible to press out of the pulley without damaging the pulley, the idler arm or both. The easier way is to replace the bearing together with the pulley. Fortunately the pulley is an industry standardized size pulley and I could order 10 of them for a very good price. I am now looking to obtain the correct bearing or one where I can modify the shaft/ shafts. After spending hours on the phone with bearing manufacturers, it seems they are not willing to sell this type of bearings in small quantities (the bearing is a water pump bearing) under 100 pieces minimum. The original Bentley parts costs over 1.000 Eur, a well known british RR/B parts specialist offers a rebuild idler arm in an exchange scheme for over 300 Eur. Cheers Daniel | ||
| Randy Roberson Prolific User Username: wascator Post Number: 230 Registered: 5-2009 |
I know you have inquired at industrial bearing supply houses, but I had to ask anyway. I look for obscure parts in my work and if I could find it I could buy one somewhere. Of course I only have one of these ( the one I am using) and I'd rather not break it! For £300 that's pretty good money! | ||
| Bob uk Unregistered guest Posted From: 94.197.122.78 |
Forgot to add this bit is quite well made and if it is ok a little bit of side play is ok Noisey bearings indicate failure down the road This is one of them cases which requires a judgment call based on experience When fitting belts use spring balance as described in workshop manual The skill in running old cars is to feel your way carefully though problems without breaking the bank (Message approved by david_gore) | ||
| Bob uk Unregistered guest Posted From: 94.197.122.78 |
Get a tin of the motor bike chain grease that melts to a liquid Melt the grease in the tin Best time is when the wife is.trying to cook the dinner while you melt the grease on the spare ring Put the jockey in the.grease keep a bit of heat on and cook for 10 mins Hopefully the grease will find it's way inside If not drill 1/8 inch hole in cover face I have not tried this my self And because I don't know what I doing be careful This part if it fails will no doubt make a racket before it finally fails and.wouldn't damage anything apart from belts. I wouldn't let it get that far Seal hole with knob of silicone sealer I have done similar with other sealed bearings and got away with it (Message approved by david_gore) | ||
| Daniel Diewerge Experienced User Username: didi13109 Post Number: 41 Registered: 11-2009 |
Well, I too think that a failed bearing will not nescessarily lead to a catastrophic failure but quiet as an RR engine runs, I feel that even a slight rattling sound of a loose bearing is unaccetable. A water pump bearing is extremely well sealed and I don't know if fresh grease could be "boiled in", the grease also wouldn't take up any play. The bearing in question has the number FPS843 and I would be very gratefull if somebody could steer me to an outlet who sells them in small quantities at a reasonable price. The Crewe part number is UE39145 and it costs around 150 GBP. | ||
| Randy Roberson Prolific User Username: wascator Post Number: 231 Registered: 5-2009 |
I'm going to give the thing a spin once I get the belts off, and if it's quiet I'll leave it alone. I dismantled the header tank last evening and will have to come up with a steam valve and associated parts, assuming I don't destroy the level probe in trying to remove it to change the O-ring... I don't need to start digging any more holes... | ||
| Bob uk Unregistered guest Posted From: 94.197.122.93 |
Some brit Water pumps had an oil hole with a blanking screw eg Morris minor I was suggesting that if the bearing is quiet when you start a journey then starts to become noisey after a while it then need to be fixed quite soon I would just make sure that the bolts will come out easily should it fail some time in the future The jockey would only be replaced by a professional mechanic if it was faulty Some tensioners are critical like jaguar v8 cam belt ones these should be changed when the cam belt is changed these have failed in service and written off the engine and sometimes the.car (Message approved by david_gore) | ||
| Bob uk Unregistered guest Posted From: 94.197.122.72 |
JEngineering bearing suppliers list idler ipulleys fitted with bearings They come with a hole in the middle for a big bolt They have various configurations These are designed for agriculture machinery and other heavy duty applications Farmers are notorious for pushing equipment hard so these have been designed with this in mind Also the bearings don't have to be Water pump bearings any properly selected ball race would do the job I would use taper rollers like a front wheel bearing Then I can adjust and grease it To me lubs are the life blood of all things mechanical I dislike sealed bearings (Message approved by david_gore) | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 1396 Registered: 4-2003 |
Whilst I have had no direct experience with R-R/B idler pulleys, I have with idlers on other vehicles having replaced bearings/fitted complete idlers on numerous occasions. After a number of what I considered short-life outcomes with OEM items, I pulled a new "sealed" bearing apart to have a "sticky beak" and was amazed to find there was a minimal amount of low-grade bearing grease. IMHO a high-temperature non-melting wheel bearing grease is a necessity for idler bearings due to the temperatures encountered in the engine bay. I now open all bearings before installation; a couple of jeweller's flat blade screwdrivers carefully inserted around the outer seal circumference are ideal for carefully "popping" one of the seals between the inner and outer races to allow removal of whatever grease has been used by the manufacturer and repacking with a good high-temperature non-melting wheel bearing grease [Castrol Spheerol HTB2 in my case]. The seal usually can be gently tapped back into place using a suitable diameter socket without distortion - if a metal seal has been distorted during removal, it may be reclaimed by clamping between appropriately sized smooth flat washers to flatten the seal sufficiently for it to be retained after reinstallation. The small indentations left by inserting the screwdriver blades can be filled with Silicone if the seal is synthetic or flattened by a small punch if the seal is metallic if required. | ||
| Bob uk Unregistered guest Posted From: 94.197.122.88 |
Bang on Dave I have noticed that a lot of replacement parts seam not to last as well as the original part fitted when the vehicle was built new I was told many years ago that parts are graded best go to New cars 2nd best main agent spares 3rd best motor factors in different boxes The rest scrap I sort of believe there maybe an element of truth in this All the parts made for shadows are short batch and quality should be ok but have had minor problems Like brake pump to accumulator pipe had a burr in flair. £100 However we have a very good spares back up Unlike some cars where everything is unavailable Also checkout the price of a Ferrari Daytona front indicator lens 3D printing? You will be pleased to find RR parts are good value (Message approved by david_gore) |
