byguessnbygolly

Both sides are sealed (rubber) I bought mine with the metal shield for the heck of it - don't really know if it's better or not. 6203 is a very common bearing . . . bought mine on line for about 6 bucks each. If they prove to be junk I'll just replace them again, it's not that difficult (on my 02 anyway)

Mr. Gary, Yup, pulling off the top cover for the engine gave me enough clearance to remove both pulleys (just the pulleys). It's a little tight but no big deal. It's easy to get the bearing out, you'll see when you have the pulley / bearing in your hand. I just uses a punch and hammer, tapping around the outter race until I could see it was beginning to move. This sounds sort of stupid, but it worked . . . after I saw it was capable of moving I slammed the pulley down flat onto a metal plate numerous times and it moved a little with each slam until it came out . . . patience is required The other pulley was rusty and I just punched around until I had it out as far as it would go on a flat surface . . . whatever, you get the idea - you'll figure it out - no big deal. Now pressing the new ones in may be more interesting, but I plan on using the ouside race of the blown up bearing to drive the new bearing into the pulley . . . and if I don't think I can do it safely that way I will use my hydraulic jack to press the buggers in there. No worries Oh yea, I'm VERY happy with how this worked out. Take care amigo. gary

Good news and bad news . . . the good news is I went out and took pictures of the damaged area, and since I was out there and curious about the tensioner bearing as well . . . I pulled the tensioner pulley off, removed the fairly good bearing from it (wasn't difficult) . . . and discovered the bearing fit on the shaft of the damaged idler shaft almost exactly as it did on the tensioner. I've had a lot of bearing experience, but that method of "fitting" a bearing was new to me . . . nothing wrong with it, just new to me. So I ordered two new bearings $15.10 total including shipping and a new belt from summit for $27.64 including shipping which means this little ordeal will cost me a total of $42.74 and a bunch of "learning" time. Cool ! The bad news is I'm sorry I didn't figure this out before sounding the alarm to you guys . . . so, sorry for that, but thanks guys, you're a great bunch. This is the first thing to fail on that baby since it was new ! My "toy" is a 95 Mustang I stuck a 460 in . . . not pretty but it does put a smile on your face when they're smokin' If I can help any of you guys out let me know, I'm no subaru expert, but I've been around a while (58 yrs) and I've picked up a thing here and there. Take care, and thanks again for all your helps gentlemen ! gary (oh, I must add: I'm really not a ford fan, I just ended up with the right parts to make it happen)

Thanks for the reply Dave ! I may replace the bearing on the belt tensioner assy, but my idler pulley is toast . . . I don't even know if the shaft for the idler pulley is still useable - I sort of doubt it . . . After the bearings let loose the pulley jammed between the shaft and the engine so I had to pry it out. I think I'll have to get a new shaft for the pulley to mount on because it's sort of tore up from the pulley. Think I can find anything on line about the shaft the idler pulley mounts on? Nope . . . Good luck with your repairs Dave, and thanks again. gary

Thank you for the links Mr. Gary, I will check them out! gary

Thanks for the reply gary (my name too) but it's not the tensioner assy, (although I will replace it at the same time). I probably didn't explain it very well, it's an odd problem apparently. I replied to Skip with a better version of what my problem is . . . hopefully that will get the ball rollin' Thanks again for the reply, it is appreciated! gary

Howdy nipper, 124K gary

Thanks for your reply and welcome, Skip! I'd already searched and read the posts related to idler pulleys before I posted. This is a generic pulley bearing failure, but the damage caused by the bearingless pulley lodged between the shaft and the casting the shaft protrudes from (or so it appears to me) is damaged, and so is the shaft. I guess what I need to know is how do I get a new shaft for the idler pulley? The shaft looks like it is part of a casting(?) so I'm guessing I need to purchase the casting with the shaft (?) Unless that shaft unscrews from the casting(?) Maybe this is something I need to go to the dealer with, I'd like to do it myself but if I can't get a part number or blow up of the assembly I'll have to. Hopefully I've done a better job of explaining my problem(s) this time Thanks again, gary

Was I happy to find this forum ! I'm new to USMB, just found you today as I was spending about my eighth hour trying to figure out what part I needed to fix my 2002 OB Legacy H6. I see there's some real pros lurking here, and hopefully this will be an easy one. Please help. My idler puller blew up - the pulley (nearly bearingless) was stuck at an angle between the pulley shaft and the casting the pulley shaft looks like it's part of a housing (?) The housing was gouged pretty bad by the pulley so I don't think I can just slide on a new pulley . . . must I purchase a housing that holds that shaft? The shaft doesn't unscrew from the housing does it? Am I misunderstanding what I'm seeing? Geez, I don't know if I'm explaining this very well . . . anyone have any ideas on this? :-\ Thank you. I bought a CD from ebay for my vehicle that was supposed to have everything under the sun on it . . . but I cannot find a picture of what this thing looks like. I could post a digital picture of what I've got if that would be of any help.