Great video. Thanks. For folks with an older 2GR-FE engine the FEBEST 0187-GSU45 pulley is an exact fit for the 2008 Sienna. The Gates 36174 is not a match. BTW, the Gates 36173 pulley is good for the other 2 idlers on the belt.
GREAT VIDEO, THANKS !!!! Couple of comments: (1) The tensioner has a little tab on the bottom with a hole which allows you to stick an allen wrench in to hold the tensioner in the "detensioned" position to get the belt on or off with the wrench out of the way. (2) The tensioner pulley apparently has TWO bearings in it whereas the idler just has ONE. THANKS AGAIN !!!!
Holy crap THANK YOU!!! I've been needing to swap out the tensioner and idler pulleys on our 2008 Highlander with the same 3.5 V6 for months and I've been dreading the project because - according to Toyota and AlldataDIY - you have to tear apart the radiator and A/C compressor to get at the tensioner's base and bolts. Crazy!! It only recently dawned on me that you must be able to replace just the pulley! It blows my mind this isn't more well-known and parts supplied for this. Thanks for the awesome video!! Our 226K mile Highlander shall continue to haul ass for us!
Great find on the 36174! Just performed this job, and here's what I noticed FWIW. First of all, the old bolt has to be used because it's left hand threaded. Also, the original dust shield has a step for the bolt flange, so I ended up using the original front dust shield. I did NOT use the reducer/rear shield from the new idler. Instead, I used a punch and removed the original reducer and installed it on new idler. I'd argue the original reducer is better since it's the whole length of the bearing, whereas the reducer that comes with the new idler only covers half of the length of the bearing. For the rear dust shield, I used a quarter inch 1" stainless steel washer and drilled out the center so it was a nice snug fit over the bolt. Note: a rear dust shield washer is necessary to align the idler center with the belt. There is a slight center offset difference between the original idler and the new idler, so a rear dust shield is important. Also, FWIW the old idler could be rebuilt. It uses two 6203DUL18 bearings instead of one bearing, like the new idler does.
Thanks for the video, great! Here are a few comments. The only pulley I have found that is specifically advertised has a replacement for the tensioner pulley on my Sienna 2008 is the FEBEST 0187-GSU45. As for the Gates 36174 pulleys, according to the info available on their website, it’s an idler pulley for some Toyota/Lexus models. But maybe it has all the right specs, especially the bearings, to be used has a tensioner pulley. It would be nice to know what tensioner pulley is on the Gates tensioner kit 38410. Is it the 36174?
Great info and video, thanks! Like another commenter I just bought new bearings and pressed them into the original pulley, super easy and cost $16 instead of $75CDN for the pulley.
Thank you, used this for my 2015 Sienna at 130K miles. Both the tensioner and idler pulley bearings were bad. Shame that toyota doesn't just list the tensioner pulley as a replaceable part.
Also, use an allen wrench to hold the tensioner in a loosened state by aligning the hole in the tensioner with the hole in the body, slide the allen wrench in, then slowly release the tension on the tensioner nut and it will be held by the allen wrench.
The distance from the pulley edge to bearing mount surface is critical. Otherwise the pulley will not be centered on the belt, or will hit the block. The Idler pulley overhang is different than the tensioner.
