2007 F-250 w/6.0 idler pulley failure
#1
03-18-2018, 04:27 PM
2007 F-250 w/6.0 idler pulley failure
I was driving along pulling my 5th wheel camper with my motorcycle trailer behind the first trailer, and suddenly I lost power steering, power brakes, and the alternator light came on. I slowed it down by using the trailer brakes, got off the interstate, and luckily got it repaired without the cost of a tow. The left side idler lost it's bearing and fell apart. This is the idler that is above the power steering pump. Is this a common failure? Are there any other idlers that I should replace when I get back home?
#2
10-07-2018, 08:03 AM
The previous post is also mine (FrankJr)
We headed out west to Yellowstone and the other idler bearing fell apart, also burning up the belt when the bearing locked up. The good news was I was right at one of the repair places, and it was about 5 minutes before they closed. The mechanic and I were able to diagnose what happened and get the parts ordered so they could arrive the next afternoon with the daily parts. I got no responses from my first post, so it looks like this doesn't happen too often. Both parts replaced had Ford part numbers so I'll assume they weren't ever replaced and now my truck has 217 Kmiles on it. Both times I was towing, but this time only my 10,000# camper. On the way to Yellowstone, I climbed up and down long 8% grades, and the truck stayed in 3rd gear up and most of the way down. The engine speed was over 3,000 RPM for quite a while and because the idlers are so much smaller than the crankshaft pulley, the idlers were spinning pretty fast on dry bearings. The tensioner had been replaced @ 200K when the motor was studded, oringed, and deleted. Hopefully the replacements last a long time and I also intend on replacing both idlers and the tensioner before they fail again.
Has anybody else had idler failures on their 6.0?
We headed out west to Yellowstone and the other idler bearing fell apart, also burning up the belt when the bearing locked up. The good news was I was right at one of the repair places, and it was about 5 minutes before they closed. The mechanic and I were able to diagnose what happened and get the parts ordered so they could arrive the next afternoon with the daily parts. I got no responses from my first post, so it looks like this doesn't happen too often. Both parts replaced had Ford part numbers so I'll assume they weren't ever replaced and now my truck has 217 Kmiles on it. Both times I was towing, but this time only my 10,000# camper. On the way to Yellowstone, I climbed up and down long 8% grades, and the truck stayed in 3rd gear up and most of the way down. The engine speed was over 3,000 RPM for quite a while and because the idlers are so much smaller than the crankshaft pulley, the idlers were spinning pretty fast on dry bearings. The tensioner had been replaced @ 200K when the motor was studded, oringed, and deleted. Hopefully the replacements last a long time and I also intend on replacing both idlers and the tensioner before they fail again.
Has anybody else had idler failures on their 6.0?
Last edited by ka9j; 10-07-2018 at 08:07 AM. Reason: typo
#3
10-07-2018, 11:01 AM
Missed your first post.
Idler issues are fairly common on a lot of engines. More so high mileage.
Given the work to change out a belt on a 6.0 I always replace the idlers. In fact my old 6.0 @ 150k had the tensioner loose it’s hold allowing for belt slip. Once the tensioner was removed and checking the idlers they proved out marginal/usable, yes, but doubt they’d out last another belt change interval. They were replaced along with the tensioner assy.
Idler issues are fairly common on a lot of engines. More so high mileage.
Given the work to change out a belt on a 6.0 I always replace the idlers. In fact my old 6.0 @ 150k had the tensioner loose it’s hold allowing for belt slip. Once the tensioner was removed and checking the idlers they proved out marginal/usable, yes, but doubt they’d out last another belt change interval. They were replaced along with the tensioner assy.
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