deanbrown

Sigh! I hope this can be both amusing and useful. Having replaced my accessory belt tensioner bearing and top idler bearing on the 96 LS400 (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...t-numbers.html) I tried to do the same on the 99. The tensioner bearing IS identical, and the same part number applies to the 99 also. This I have confirmed.

But I tried the top idler bearing, and bought 2 new bearings (a spare also) from McMaster, and pushed out the old one fine. But the old one was thicker than the new one. Not wanting to be stranded, I thought I would push in the new one, and leave a small gap of half the difference, to tide me over till I got the right bearing. So I pushed it in. For a plunger, I used the old bearing, but unfortunately pushed that one in a little too far and got it stuck too. (Usually I used a socket for this but I thought this was a clever idea at the time.)

Nothing I could do would pull out the follower, so I ended up removing both from the other side, thereby destroying the new one.

Intermission: Spent 2-3 hours on google looking for a new bearing. No-one sells it at all. Anywhere!

Second attempt - with my spare bearing. I pushed it in ok, but I pushed a little too hard with the press, and flattened out the pulley wheel, by about 1mm I would guess. (I saw it flange out.) Anyway, I tried it nevertheless on the LS400 and the belt didn't quite fit in the channel, but I thought it would do for a few days. Started her up, and it started knocking. It turns out that the i.d of the bearing is not quite the same. In fact there is a core in the old bearing that is inserted into the actual bearing, and it's slightly tighter on the bolt. It was knocking on this bolt (as well as being too narrow on the pulley).

Finally, after much continued cursing, checked Amazon, and found they sell the correct pulley AND bearing for $20 complete:

(Hayden Automotive 5021 Idler and Belt Tensioner Pulley )

It fits perfectly and is nice and smooth. Changed it in 5 minutes.

So, I wasted 2x$9 + shipping from McMaster. New bearing + pulley from Amazon $20 free shipping.

Please can anyone confirm that the two bearings are different on the 96 and 99? It was too long ago for my memory, and I hope that my original post above is not misleading anyone on this idler. The tensioner info is definitely correct.

Thanks!