Idler pulley/Bearing separation....

[JohnT24]

I started the truck today and hear something clank off the fan blade...
Immediately shut it down and found the top idler pulley came forward and fell OFF the bearing...

This is the single smooth pulley right above the tensioner assembly

The bearing seems to be good... I replaced them all not too long ago.
seems like a tight fit when you press or tap them in. kind of odd that it came off.

One thing I noticed was it does not have any lip on the backside to keep the pulley on the bearing...
I had a spare tensioner pully and compared it... the tensioner pully has a lip on the backside (pics)

They look to be almost identical... maybe a few mm's difference.

I have 2 ideas...
try the spare tensioner pully or use a thin flat washer on the front side of the bearing to prevent it from happening again...
I could probably use green loctite on the bearing also... even though it seems to fit tight.

anyway,
Anyone ever encountered this before?

I've had bearings go bad, but never this.

 

[Tiha]

That happened to me in the middle of no where western colorado.

I beat it back on and made it to a motel. Next day I had to take a taxi to a town 30 minutes away to pick up the parts.

but yep, exact same scenario. At the time I think I bought them from the Ford dealer. been 100k miles and they are fine. They already lasted longer than the originals.

Not sure what the parts store have but probably better than what you have now.

 

[JohnT24]

That happened to me in the middle of no where western colorado.

I beat it back on and made it to a motel. Next day I had to take a taxi to a town 30 minutes away to pick up the parts.

but yep, exact same scenario. At the time I think I bought them from the Ford dealer. been 100k miles and they are fine. They already lasted longer than the originals.

Not sure what the parts store have but probably better than what you have now.

Well thats kind of comforting to know I'm not a unicorn...
I believe that is a stock pulley

very odd indeed.

 

[JohnT24]

I installed my spare pulley with the lip on the back and I'm back in Bizness...
belt seems to be running true and all other pulleys/tensioner seems fine.

they say everything happens for a reason... but heck if I can figure it out.
Full moon?