My Drive belt tensioner pulley and idler pulley were both making a terriable grinding noise. Calling Ford, the tensioner is sold as a complete unit only and they do not sell the pulley separately. The tensioner is around 70 dollars. The idler pulley that I went to get at O'Reilly's did not match up with what I had.

What I ended up doing was buying 2 BCA 203FF Pilot Bearings. This number matches what is in both pulleys. The pilot bearings were 7.49 each. I used a socket to tap out the old bearings. Cleaned the inner surface and dabbed some white grease on housing. I then tapped in the new bearings with out much trouble. I have them on the car and they work great. Tension 70+ Idler Pulley 20 = 90 dollars. Subtract 2 pilot bearings $15.00. Total saved = 75 dollars!

Thought you all would like to know this tip!

Regards,
Bob

Forgot, My auto is 95 Contour LX 2.5L with ATX for reference.

thanks for the info.. will keep it in the back of mind for as long as possible........ sometimes i remember things and use the info (not just on cars, but on all kinds of things around the house) and when someone ask how i know how to do this or that.. i then think back and really cant remember how i got the information.. but as a kid in the 50's and 5-'s i remember getting the old popular mechanics magazines and studying them when i should have been studying the school books.... probably got a lot of info from them and now years later is using it and saving money all the time..
thanks for the tip...

Originally posted by btrautman:

---

The idler pulley that I went to get at O'Reilly's did not match up with what I had.

---

If was slightly bigger, that's a good thing. Ford updated the idler pulley sometime after '98 which included beefier bearings. Both of my cars have had grinding that was fixed by replacing that pulley, and according to Ford, the updates should prevent the problem from returning.