Bad Smooth Idler Pulley - Death Sentence for Supercharger?

Series I L27 (1992-1994 SE,SLE, SSE) & Series II L36 (1995-1999 SE, SSE, SLE) and common problems for the Series I and II L67 (all supercharged models 92-99) Including Olds 88's, Olds LSS's, Olds 98 91-96, Buick Lesabres and Park Avenue 91-96. Please use General Chat for non-mechanical issues, and Performance and Brainstorming for improvements.
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thunderpanda
SLE Member
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Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:42 pm
Year and Trim: 1998 Pontiac Bonneville SSEI

Bad Smooth Idler Pulley - Death Sentence for Supercharger?

Post by thunderpanda »

I just had a pulley fail for the Supercharger belt on my 98 SSEi, and I believe this one is called the Smooth Idler Pulley. In the following image, it's #9

Image

Has anyone actually replaced this before? I came across this lengthy and detailed tutorial describing how to replace it on a '96: http://www.jeffhockema.com/bonneville

However, if that's the only way to do it, I feel like it's not worth the effort. I once replaced the water pump (which is actually a step in these instructions, far from the end) and it took several days of work. Obviously I'm not a gifted mechanic and that time I didn't have any instructions, but I'm sure this would still take me ages.

The car has nearly 250,000 miles on it. There are no major mechanical problems but still... Do you think it's worth it just to have the supercharger back? Does anyone know of an easier way to replace the pulley?
1998 Bonneville ssei
96 SSEi
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Posts: 1813
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:11 pm
Year and Trim: 2000 Bonniville SSEi L67
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Bad Smooth Idler Pulley - Death Sentence for Supercharge

Post by 96 SSEi »

ok, first , if the bolt that holds pulley has enough room to be removed without having clearance problems, then I would try to remove it with everything in place - I assume there is not enough clearance but I dont see why all the other steps regarding ps pump and tensioner are needed.
it is hard to see with those pics

that being said, does the belt slip off the pulley? if it is no, I dont believe it will affect the SC
poverty forces one to do unorthodox things

2000 SSEi
past rides:
1996 SSEi
1992 GTP
1987 Grand Am
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