Which serpentine belt tensioner pulleys/bearings!?

[Redefined]

Hi all.

I'm getting that slight smell of when a bearing is about to sieze. I've a good guess its from the aux belt tensioner bearings. But money is a bit tight and I'd like to try and work through and hopefully find the exact one that's seizing up.

Anyone got any experience of which bearings end up going first as I'll start there. Can't afford to take it to the mechanics just now either and I have all the tools (usually a straightforward job of swapping pulleys/bearings around the aux belt) and the serpentine belt needs replacing anyway.

Any input greatly appreciated, ta... It's a model year 2000 LS430.

[Redefined]

Just thinking out loud....

 

Coming to think of it,  might be an idea to remove a pulley and take a look at the bearing. Order one or 2 of the same and the serpentine belt. Swap em out and hopefully job done 🤗

Trying to run a v80 LS on a Nissan Primera budget. Some would class this as a social experiment.

[Spacewagon52]

49 minutes ago, Redefined said:

 

Trying to run a v80 LS on a Nissan Primera budget. Some would class this as a social experiment.

It is perfectly reasonable and possible to run these cars fairly cheaply. I presume you know about swapping the radiator (100,000 mils?)?

[Redefined]

Thanks @Spacewagon52 yes, I've already had that radiator upgrade done where the oil warmer is now separate and doesn't go through the rad. Had/asked Lex-Tec to comment on the radiator condition when I last went down (front suspension arm rear bushes).

He said it was fine. But, even when it does go it won't take the whole gearbox with it. Just been looking around and prices for the pulleys are really expensive (and maybe won't even have the original/genuine NTN bearings pressed in unless I go for original equipment). So looks like bearing replacement (with NTN or similar bearings) will be the most economical/robust option.

[Malc1]

4 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

It is perfectly reasonable and possible to run these cars fairly cheaply. I presume you know about swapping the radiator (100,000 mils?)?

I’ve found over the decades that the Ls400 is possibly the least expensive car to use ( apart from mpg ) and maintain ….. also doing preventative maintenance too …… over 00,000s miles 

My car sales business way back threw up all sorts of expensive fixes for common day and other not so common cars and certainly reading the cost to “ fix “ modern day Lexii …… well, just horror stories needing very deep pockets 

The V8 4ltr Ls400 and 430 is great value all round 😄….. and shouldn’t break the finite bank going forward hopefully 

Malc 

[Razor61]

7 hours ago, Redefined said:

I'm getting that slight smell of when a bearing is about to sieze. I've a good guess its from the aux belt tensioner bearings.

£40 for each pulley/idler from Amayama, bit cheaper if buying both. I’d guess that isn’t far off ‘Nissan Primera budget’ prices.

[Redefined]

Ooh, nice1 Razor. That'll be the one then. I'll order em all (or a couple). @Malc1 yes I do agree with it being economical indeed but I suppose I'm comparing to the last 5 years of Subaru Legacy ownership and before that a Honda 2.4 Accord with 2 Nissan Primera GT LE for the 12 years or so before that.

 

Ooh, and a Toyota Carina E (2 I think) which was my foes tproepr car after the Citroën AX I had after passing my driving test. So I'm playing to a pretty high bar of reliability. None of them were 8 cylinder 4.2L though.

Oh dear, if only someone was listening in (from, 'the other') and hearing us talking about a 4L car being economical. They'll never 'get it'.

[Redefined]

Sorry... but I just burst into another tiny fit of giggles at work. Just driven down 120 miles to Birmingham for a night shift. Put in about £50 of V power before departure but had to drive at 70. So might need a touch more on the way back home.

Such lovely little beasts 😍 and thanks again for all the input on here a year (or more) before I actually bought mine. Absolutely love it!