A/C belt tensioner replacement

I don't know if this was covered before but this is what I did. Instead of buying a whole new A/C tensioner assembly because mine was making noise. I just removed the pulley itself leaving the bracket attached to the engine. Heated the PULLEY around the bearing SLIGHTLY and put a big enough socket on the underside to catch the bearing and support the pulley. Then GENTLY tapped the bearing out with a smaller socket on top. The bearing is a 6203 for my 92' and can be bought at a bearing supply or at your local Japanese motorcycle shop where I got mine for $4. Be careful not to heat the pulley too much or pound on it excessively. A minute with the propane torch and a few small taps and it will come right out. Reheat the pulley to install the new cold bearing and reassemble and you just saved yourself some money. Set the belt tension and go.

rock on, this is good stuff....

What is the bearing p/n?

This is so folks like me that must to use the tubes to buy stuff.

Drew

Cool stuff! You saved yourself $80 as the dealer asks $84 for the pulley with an installed bearing.

Just to be sure: Was the bearing a 17x40x12?

Yep those were the dimensions! The bearing is a 6203-2rs PN electomotive grade double sealed ball bering that at any Jap cycle shop that has a Parts Unlimited or Harley shop with a Drag Specialties parts distributor (which is just about every one) can get you for $4.
Glad I get to help. My turn to give back.
Steve

Did the same bearing swap about 2 years ago when I found out the bearing had a lot of play. When asking about the new part with Honda I found out it was about 130 Euro (about 180 U$) if memory serves me right, can even have been more.
Got the bearing at a transmission parts specialist for 12 Euro:smile:

From SKF website there are different 6203 bearings like 2Z, RSH, C3... which one to take. Their sizes are all the same.

The one that was in there was marked 6203 LU. Each bearing maker may have its own letter designation for things like: single or double sided seal, snap ringed races, or high temp. That is something they would have to describe to you when you tell them what you need and what you need it for. A standard electromotive bearing with double seals is what I installed. It's working for me just fine.

I went to a local bearing supply shop (kaman, in victorville, ca) and just went in with old one and they saw it and got me a bearing. Went home and tapped it right in (no heated needed for me, just carefully tap into pulley). Cost me $10, trip to the store and saved me a whole lot of cash.

Thanks OP

earbleeder said:

The one that was in there was marked 6203 LU. Each bearing maker may have its own letter designation for things like: single or double sided seal, snap ringed races, or high temp. That is something they would have to describe to you when you tell them what you need and what you need it for. A standard electromotive bearing with double seals is what I installed. It's working for me just fine.

Click to expand...

Yes it is a standard 6203-2RS bearing , 6203 is the bearing size family , 2RS means double sealed . when I did my t/b in 08 , Tim at ray laks told me he located the last a/c pulley available at that time , I installed the new one and put a bearing in the old one , now the used pulley in my box of spare parts !

Thanks for posting. I keep a parts list for my car (primarily made from posts here). It has helped me several times.
Thanks Again.

What is the level of difficulty to do this? I have limited tools, want to make sure I don't screw it up.

I replaced the pulley bearing this past summer. Getting the tensioner out is easy. Pressing out the old bearing out can be done with a large socket and a few pieces of wood. You can use the wood to support the pulley as you press out the old bearing and press in the new bearing. As long as you are there, change out the belts. The bearing was about $10. Good luck. Jerry