Safe to Drive with Idler Pulley Going Bad?
 

I noticed a "wobble" sound the other night coming from the engine bay. With the help of the search function of this forum I removed the front belt and thankfully the engine sounded fine without the belt. With the belt back on I was able to narrow down the location of the noise to either the upper idler pull or the belt tensioner. Both felt ok and spin freely enough by hand. The noise is only present when the car is at idle.

These appear fairly easy to change and I plan to do it myself. But I already have scheduled an appointment at a local indy for inspection and some brake work tomorrow. Any risk driving the car back and forth for the inspection? It would be about a 30-40 mile round trip. I'd rather not pay the premium to have the shop replace them.

If it fails, you are stuck where ever it happens.

Good luck and join AAA.

Let me put this here.
Failed idler pulley and a fire - Rennlist Discussion Forums

A bearing tested under no load is not real test....how many miles on them ?

Assuming they are original there are 76K miles on them. I drove it to the shop this morning with no issues.