AHU Tensioner Pulley Fix

[tleader]

Well I had another mishap and discovered a great alternative to a OEM VW part.

To make a long story short, my serpentine belt tensioner pulley on my 98 Jetta seized and melted the plastic/nylon pulley and started to burn through other items as well. By the time I got it stopped, the pulley was destroyed. The bearing seized, locked-up the pulley and the carnage insued.

If anyone runs into this problem in the future, you can use tensioner pulley from a 95 Mustang GT. Everything about it fit perfectly, the bearing seems stronger and the pulley is made of metal. The OEM threaded sleeve fit right into the pulley and mounted and cleared everything without issue. At a price of 14.99 and available just about everywhere, it makes for a quick inexpensive fix.

Hope this might help anyone that might run into this problem. I know I would have been SOL without my car and no OEM pulley available. It should now outlast the car since the chance of it melting are impossible.

 

[1chrisapple]

thats good info thanks

 

[Abacus]

Thanks for this info!

 

[tdidieselbobny]

Exact same thing happened to me a while back,but had to order another plastic pulley.Good info,thanks for sharing.

 

[ninedee_golf_tdi]

Not having worked on a ford in about 20 years or so, what engine is in the 95 gt ? Or, do you have the part number for this roller ?

 

[tleader]

The 95 is the last year for the 5.0, 302 pushrod motor. The pulley is used in many appications throughout Ford and many other manufacturers. Here are some part numbers to help anyone out.

DAYCO Part # 89007
GOODYEAR Part # 49006
GATES Part # 38006

Just make sure it's the smooth pulley and not the ribbed one.

 

[1chrisapple]

the good old 302 even has pats that work on vw's

 

[schultp]

pats??

 

[darkscout]

Is this it?

How do you attach it? Does the bolt assembly on the TDI just come apart and you thread this new one in?

-

Edit: Yep, that was it. MUCH sturdier and better bearing than OEM. Took about an hour and a half and most of that was coaxing the rod out of the spring. In the near future that may get replaced but for now it works.

Also, our dubs will run down well into 8V. I'm guessing the ECM runs on 5V so long after everything else dies it'll keep on ticking.

 

[gone postal]

Great find!! I'm rebuilding my AHU now, so I'm just gonna drop the $19 on this and replace the 15yr old plastic one now so that there is one less thing to worry about

 

[Mongler98]

I got the dayco89007 pulley for 12 bucks on amazon.
Now the problem is that it does not fit.
98TDI AHU.
The pulley is to wide, it dishes in the front to far and hits the arm. I could turn it around and take my grinder to the back side of it to make clearance but i dont know how that will effect the ride of the bearing as it is centered ATM and doing so would off set it. Also It seems i have to press in the old threaded bushing from the current pulley.
It is unclear how you did this.

 

[schultp]

I just did a search on Amazon for the dayco 89007. the pics are confusing. It shows 2 different parts depending on which pic you select in the product description section. Did you get the ribbed pulley or the smooth pulley? I believe the pic of the smooth pulley is the proper part. But, you would need the OP to verify since I haven't done this mod myself.

 

[TonyJetta]

According to gates...37013P by their documentation.

Appears to be in stock at Amazon at a decent price.

HTH.

Tony

 

[Mongler98]

I just did a search on Amazon for the dayco 89007. the pics are confusing. It shows 2 different parts depending on which pic you select in the product description section. Did you get the ribbed pulley or the smooth pulley? I believe the pic of the smooth pulley is the proper part. But, you would need the OP to verify since I haven't done this mod myself.

Yea that was the gamble, but some other buyer added a pic of the smooth version. The smooth one is the one i received. I think by modding the one i have would damage the way the bearing rides and wears.
OP could you please shed some light on this.

 

[tleader]

I cannot speak for the dayco part, I believe I had a gates pulley when I did it on my car. I listed those part number based on cross reference to the part I used. Perhaps different companies have slightly different sizes/tolerances. I did not have to grind or press anything into the pulley. The threaded sleeve slid right into the pulley and it lined up perfectly.

I would go look at the setup, but I no longer have that car, so I can't help you in that regard. All I know, is that my car was a 98 and everything went in smooth and hassle free.

Not sure if this helps, but good luck.

 

[Mongler98]

Tell me is this what you had?See what i mean, the arm does not dish inwards nearly enough and im looking at the gates one and it seems to have the same tolerances, i say looks because the picture shows the bearing resesed inward

 

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Another alternative - but not as quick/fast as going to local auto parts store -
i just bought a new one from AutohausAZ.com for $5 (five bucks).
1Z / AHU specific application

looks to be a nice part - URO brand

Might be a couple/few weeks before i install,
will report back on it afterwards.

 

[tleader]

Tell me is this what you had?See what i mean, the arm does not dish inwards nearly enough and im looking at the gates one and it seems to have the same tolerances, i say looks because the picture shows the bearing resesed inward

I had the same setup. I cant remember just how much the tensioner arm bent inwards. Your arm does look a bit more straight, not sure why that would be.

I could always try to ask the guy I sold my car to, to take a pic of the setup.

 

[CFM]

I recently bought the Duralast pulley from Autozone for $18.00; I popped the bushing and spacer out of the VW pulley and put them in the new one, but found that the spacer needed to be wider. I machined a new one out of 1" round stock .425" long with a .667" bore, and it bolted right in.

 

[VWannabe]

How exactly does the threaded sleeve come out?