Idler Pully Issues
 

I'm new to Saturns but fairly mechanical. I race 3 other cars in the 24 Hours of Lemons series, but this SC2 is my daughters. It is a 2001 auto and the idler pully went on it. It actually seemed to have gotten jammed against the body and pulled apart.

I removed it, but the issue is that the bearing the bolt goes through snapped off. The new pully has a center hole that is too large now since part of the bearing is in the old pully and the other part that the bolt threads into is still in the motor.

Any ideas how to remedy this?

Thank you for your suggestions.

Can you post a photo of it? I no longer have a Saturn and don't remember the set up.

I stopped by a GM dealer to see if I could find a bolt, because I rounded off the old one a little bit and what was in the middle. He wasn't sure but thought it was part of the timing chain cover. Here are some pictures of the old and new pullies. You can see the broken piece in the middle, and the other side of it on the cover.

1) use an AC Delco 21007457 used on all S cars from 91 -02.
Whatever you have there in the picture has an OD that is too large. Should be OD of 4".
see rockauto.com. The fit is already tight as it is. Might want to change the belt while you're at it

2) If you can figure out the bolt size and thread pitch you could clean the threads in the block out with a tap (of tap and die fame). Depending on how hard the material is, might take a little while. Just work it in both directions until it is smoothly turning in both directions. Do not crossthread--make sure you are cleaning the existing ones.

You could also use a std Dremel tool with the approp bit on it to wear away the leftover material, taking care not to hit the threads

I changed the front cover on one of our 4.6L Ford v8 engines when one of my co-workers did that. The pulley looks right but the boss that centers and aligns the pulley is broken off of the cover. I doubt that it will keep a belt on without a new cover. The alignment is critical or the belt will walk and talk.

That's a good point. I was hoping to get lucky, but I doubt it. The dealer quoted me $330 for one. Looks like it's junk yard shopping time.

I decided to just go ahead and give it a shot without replacing the timing cover. Worst case the belt falls off and I pull over so it won't over heat. It appeared to be spinning straight and I have driven it about 30 miles so it seems good. Now I'm getting code p0140 which I believe to be an unrelated 02 sensor. Always something. Hopefully the belt/pulley hold, if not I'll repost. Thanks for your help so far!

Figured out that code. It's not an o2 but rather a secondary air flow issue. I broke the small black vacuum hose that runs over the belt/timing side. Easy fix as long as I can find one.