Pulley bearing replacement (along with belts, nose and radiator) 1999 Q45

[bullittandy]

I just replaced the radiator, upper and lower radiator hoses (along with short connector hoses), all four belts and replaced the bearings in the all four pulleys.

I found a set of 6301 bearings for a good price and had initially planned to have them installed by a machine shop. Well, the machine shop was closed so I was faced with a decision-wait or do it myself. So I went to Lowes and bought a large vice to complete the job.

The 97+ Q's have four idler pulleys with a total of six bearings (two large pulleys have two bearings each). The vice I bought (6" inch) was plenty strong for the job so feel free to tackle it with a smaller one as well (maybe 4"? would be smallest vice that could be used). I used a socket and a pice of pipe to displodge the old bearings.

I rec spraying the bearings with PB blaster-it made the old ones come out much easier. I used the pulleys from my parts car to have them complete and will be swapping all pulleys from: 97 parts car to 99 driver to 97 driver and then will be selling spare set of pulleys.

About 1/3 of old bearings (from two sets) were unusable, spun freely and felt rough. another 1/3 were "okay" but you would not reinstall them. Another 1/3 were nearly new feeling.

Now my 99 has new belts, pulleys, hoses and a radiator. NVH seems reduced. Good project, saved the family about $400 labor.

[Q451990]

Very interesting. I wonder if other years use the same bearing... they appear to be very common (from a search on eBay)

I guess the question is how would I evaluate the quality of a bearing and know what I was buying?

Heath

[bullittandy]

I think that all years use the same bearing. Not sure how to determine bearing quality other than buying very expensive bearings or taking a chance. . .

Bearings i bought are marked "Taiwan" which makes me feel better than if they were marked "China" but I'll report back if they fail.

[goody90q45]

Stop in at the local Motion Industries (MI) bearing supplier and chat up the counterman. There's one in Columbia, SC. It looks like the 6301 double-sealed bearing is made by a lot of manufacturers and they use the same # (6301) so it makes it easy to cross reference.

http://www.motionindustries.co...I.jsp

I bought the OEM bearings from the Sacramento MI outlet ($13/ea?) but would be curious if there's an equal or better quality than OEM available.

......The vice I bought (6" inch) was plenty strong for the job so feel free to tackle it with a smaller one as well (maybe 4"? would be smallest vice that could be used). I used a socket and a pice of pipe to dislodge the old bearings......

A bench vise? So you're pressing out the bearings in the horizontal direction rather than vertical (like a press)? When you say 6" vice are you talking the width of the jaws or the distance the jaws spread apart? Thanks.

[bullittandy]

Yes, a bench vice so the bearings came out horizontal. The first set without PB blaster came out rather hard but the set that I soaked with the blaster came out "like butta."

[NightRiderQ45]

Good job andy! I love reading your posts because all of them are very descriptive! My bearing might be going bad, but I really don't know. PS...I haven't forgotten about the KS job...Want to wait until it gets warmer now.

[elwesso]

sounds good man, glad it worked out.. home made press=win..

[Q451990]

Yes, a bench vice so the bearings came out horizontal. The first set without PB blaster came out rather hard but the set that I soaked with the blaster came out "like butta."

What did you use to press it out and catch the bearing, PVC plumbing parts, sockets?

Thanks!

Heath

[bullittandy]

What did you use to press it out and catch the bearing, PVC plumbing parts, sockets?

Thanks!

Heath

I used a socket to press them out and a "bearing buddy" on the other side to catch them. I started off with blocks of wood and other add ons to protect the pulleys but ended up just using the socket and bearing buddy to remove and an old bearing to install new.

[paranoidjack]

Great post Andy. Detailed (as noted above) as always, I need to do this and am appreciative of your post. Thanks.

[Skibane]

I guess the question is how would I evaluate the quality of a bearing and know what I was buying?

Texasoil sells a good set, at a reasonable price - website here.