Serpentine Belt Idler broken off.... repair strategdy?

[Tazmool]

Howdy,

I was replacing the serpentine belt on a 06 CRD Liberty,
Had a few squeaks in there on cold mornings, and decided to go ahead and replace the idlers and tensioner as well.

The top idler bolt snapped off, and now I'm stuck.

What would be the best way to get this darn bolt out?
The clearance to the radiator fan/shroud is very, very tight.

Am I stuck with removing the radiator and all hardware to get front access to the idler?
Or is there some better/easier way to do this?

Any ideas and experiences are welcome.

Tazmool

 

[LibertyTC]

The pulley bolt snapped off. Best to just Replace the whole tensioner assembly: https://www.gates.com/us/en/power-transmission/power-transmission-components/tensioners.html

The Mopar tensnioner is best, but very expensive. $200

 

[turblediesel]

The idler pulley bolts might have left handed threads. I'm not completely sure of this. I might have them confused with the timing belt idler bolts.

 

[LibertyTC]

The Idler Pulley on the CDD is a bit different, compared to a 3.7.
The idler bolt is still exposed.
To me it would appear that it should be loosened in a counter clockwise direction, same as KJ 3.7. Direction is not mentioned though in FSM.

One note, In a normal removal situation, Spray penetrating oil front & rear, let it sit for a while, & you need an air impact to get idler off ! It is almost welded in there lol.

2006 Factory manual-Look under cooling- Accessory Drive- 2.4 : https://colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/2006-KJ-SM.pdf
06 parts fiche is here: https://colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/06kj_PARTS_FICHE.pdf

In his situation, replace the entire tensioner assembly would be best.
I don't think an easy out would work. Drilling would make a mess, waste of time.

 

[turblediesel]

Yup, left handed threads on the serpentine idler pulleys for the CRD. Just checked mine in the shop.

 

[Tazmool]

Thanks for the Info everyone,
Yep, the bolts are left hand thread, darn it!

I got lucky and was able to back out the one remaining idler bolt with out much drama, and the one that was snapped off, had just barely 2 stretched threads sticking out, just enough to get a channel lock, and to my surprise, it actually came out!

I wish I took a closer look at the new idler bolts, they are clearly reverse thread if you look closely.

Now, the belt tensioner did not come with a new bolt so I can't examine it.
Is the belt tensioner a reverse thread? or a standard one?

Tazmool

 

[turblediesel]

CRD Serpentine Belt tensioner bolt is right handed thread.

Taking the radiator/intercooler/AC/fan assembly out is a lot of work. Watch out for the runaway square nuts and be careful of bolt lengths during reassembly. The wrong bolt in the wrong place can crack your plastic radiator.

 

[Runion]

Howdy,

I was replacing the serpentine belt on a 06 CRD Liberty,
Had a few squeaks in there on cold mornings, and decided to go ahead and replace the idlers and tensioner as well.

The top idler bolt snapped off, and now I'm stuck.

What would be the best way to get this darn bolt out?
The clearance to the radiator fan/shroud is very, very tight.

Am I stuck with removing the radiator and all hardware to get front access to the idler?
Or is there some better/easier way to do this?

Any ideas and experiences are welcome.

Tazmool

=============== =

I recently had that Idler Pulley replaced.

I was lucky we caught it.
It started as a kind of squeeking when the engine is running. If you were not looking for it, you would probably miss it.
Took the assembly off and found the idler wheel sort of wobbly on the shaft.
The wheel and or shaft is NOT replaceable unless you want to do a lot of machining.

It comes as an assembly from good ole Chrylser/whoever is partner with them now.

The replacement is simple enough, the problem is detecting you have a problem.
You dont feel anything wrong when the engine is running.
You only have that squeeek sound and if you are not looking for it you will miss it.
I had probably another 100 miles before it was going to fail and I could have been on the
road when it failed. Suggest ya all check this one out.

The other thing I recently had go sour was the cable for shifting the transmission.
The end of the cable wore and came off the pin at the ******. I suggest replacing yours
if you are over 100k miles. This is another of those "you don't know its bad till it fails" kind of thing.
In this case, THERE IS NO WARNING, it just falls off the pin lever and you have no ****** control.

BTW, getting your arm up to reinstall this cable to the pin lever on the ****** is in a tight spot so be
ready for that one.

 

[Michael Wolfe]

https://shop.sasquatchparts.com/pro...er-idler-set-jeep-liberty-28l-crd-68211444aa/

what I got

 

[LibertyTC]

Tazmool In post #4 look at the parts fiche I posted. The CRD bolts should be shown with exact specifications.