Idler Pulley problem
 

My top idler pulley bolt is loose and the bearings are gone. Not sure what happened first but I cant get the bolt in anymore. No grip but bolt looks good in my opinion. How is it attached from the back?

If it is the alternator idler pulley that is attached to the block, then you have to align the rear eyelet of alternator with the block and the idler pulley bolt should go through to the rear alternator eyelet and bushing. If you tapped the bolt to get the alternator off then the bushing would have been pushed out. Wiggle it around and I’m sure that idler bolt will go back in. Maybe a light tap with a hammer would help it out.

Recently I removed my alternator, and reinstalled it after it was rebuilt.

When I reomved that pulley I did the pound the bolt to move that bushing so it would slide up/out easier. Getting that bolt to reconnect... a PITA. Maybe slightly encourage the bushing in just enough so it doesn't get hung up on the mount.

I used a screwdriver... a piece of wood... and a pry bar... slowly the bolt seated. Patience, for me, was key. It finally connected.

Patience.

I just posted this to another thread. Looks like it may be handy here too. It shows how the bolt and bushing work.

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Yeah, it was a PITA, luckily there is a bunch of posts here about tapping the bolt head to push out the bushing, I thought I would break something and I did some damage to the bolt head when I hit it with the hammer. The bolt doesn’t look pretty anymore, but it works.:p