idler pulley making terrible whining sound

[rhatmonkey]

brief history on my 240sx vert. i bought it about a year ago and had the KA and auto transmission swapped for an SR RedTop w/5-speed about 4 months ago, everything has been running great. even had my ac from the ka moved to the sr (cause let's face it, summer's too hot sometimes).

so about a week ago my car started making this loud whining noise so i spent a few minutes investigating. i found that if i removed all the tension from the belt (it connects my crank to the ac) by loosening the idler pulley the noise stopped and all i could hear was her purr but if i tightened the idler pulley back on the belt to give it tension the sound came back. now i've read all over here that when it does that it's time to replace the pulley,.. the only problem is i can't find it anywhere.

[ i call it an idler pulley cause all the manual's i've seen for the sentra se-r show the name, just no part number ]

i've read i can just order one for a '92 sentra se-r (2.0L sr20det) but nissan swears up and down you can't get an idler pulley for it and that the belt should go around the power steering pump, ac, adn crank.. the only pulley's i can find fit a '00+ sentra 1.6L.

my question is this: where the hell can i find one of those pulley's and can i use the ones for a 1.6?

thanks in advance.

[rhatmonkey]

replying to my own post for anyone who cares. Turns out the bearing is going bad in the idler pulley. I tried replacing it but no one seemed to be able to cross reference the bearing, so i called NSK. NSK informed me that the 6301 is a proper bearing but the DULX suffix says it's a special made bearing for the mfg. They also tell me it's a magnetic clutch bearing and can't be cross referenced or replaced with anything else, the only option is dealer. I'm going to talk to them later today and post a part number since i had a hell of a time with this with 0 help, maybe this thread will help someone else.

[S13_love]

Turns out the bearing is going bad in the idler pulley.

If only i found this thread a week ago.

Yeah, mine did the same thing (i have a KA). The bearing basically seized up...hell that idler pulley wont even turn or spin anymore...kinda sucks driving with no power steering.

[amolao]

I have the same problem during the first start up in the morning. The colder it is, the worst. Sometimes it happens during the day but it lasts only about a second and it goes away. Very loud metallic squeal...

Can this possibly be the same problem...??

[rhatmonkey]

just for anyone who wants to know, the idler pulley part number is: 11925-5B602 ran me about $75. I did check and you can order just the bearing at about $15 but according to nissan techs there's a slim chance of getting the new one back in the pulley. The new pulley isn't the same but fits and works just the same.