My tensioner pulley seized and melted down to JUST THE METAL CORE while coming home from the Jeep Jamboree this weekend! I had just left and was 10 minutes away from my uncle's house, who I just had lunch with. The belt was fried to bits.
I called him and he ran to the autoparts store and brought me a new belt and pulley. Installing it was the easiest thing ever. PIcs above are perfect. Made the 3 hour drive home without incident... UNTIL TODAY!
Today, about 2 miles from home, the belt came off. I made it home without overheating somehow, and looked at the other idler pulley and it was toast! All but about 4 ball bearings were gone. TOAST. The belt was there and in tact.
Took the wife's car to Pep Boys for a new idler pulley and a new belt (putting the 1 day old belt in the back as a spare which I wanted to do anyway) and the KJ is back together again!
Now, my concern and questions are:
1) assuming this was the result of all the deep water crossings I did, in muddy, sandy water, is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening to my other pumps/alternater/AC etc? I just degreased the entire engine (again).
2) how did sand get into a sealed ball bearing assembly?
3) the replacement idler pulley (the fixed one) is all plastic except for the bearings. The stock one is ball bearings and a metal shell, as pictured above. Should I take the time to replace this cheap aftermarket plastic thing for an OEM metal one?
For pics, check out http://www.photoworks.com/share/shareLa ... r_25pr_ps2
Check out pictures numbered 159-163 for the repair pics.
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