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The idler pulley on my 08 Toyota Rav4 started squeeling a few weeks ago. So I went and bought a new pulley and serpentine belt. I pulled the old belt off and started to pull the pulley and the bolt runs into the frame rail. It's awfully loose and I can tell that only a couple if threads are holding it. I scratch my head and wonder about it for a minute, shine a flashlight on it to see if that illuminates anything, crawl under it to see if that gives me a new perspective, and finally throw my hands up and cuss it. There's no obvious way to pull the bolt. I scour the internet and the most ridiculous answer keeps coming up. Pull the engine mounts and lift the engine enough to clear the frame rails. I say "balderdash" and possibly a few other choice words and call the dealership. There I speak to the shop foreman who casually confirms that this is how they also replace that pulley, his tone of voice suggests that this is not completely asinine. I sleep on this information and hope to form a plan of attack in my dreams. The next day I decide that since I know the bolt is very nearly out and since it's around three inches long, that I'll use a hacksaw blade and cut the bolt at the mount then fish the last few threads out. Half an hour later (it's hard to reach) I have the pulley replaced and my newly four threads shortened bolt is holding the new pulley in place.
Now this isn't the first time that my daily has made me cuss, scratch my head, and ponder out loud about the parentage of engineers at Toyota, so I decided to get a new daily. I thought up a criteria for this new car: must be large enough to hold a wheelchair the back (oldest son is in a chair), must seat at least three (I still have two kids at home) it must have plenty of space under the hood to work in and be easy to work on (that's the biggie for me), and finally I would prefer a standard. After some looking I came up with a 94 YJ Jeep Wrangler. It ticks all the boxes for me and is fun too.
Here it is on one of our unusual SW Oklahoma snow days.
Now this isn't the first time that my daily has made me cuss, scratch my head, and ponder out loud about the parentage of engineers at Toyota, so I decided to get a new daily. I thought up a criteria for this new car: must be large enough to hold a wheelchair the back (oldest son is in a chair), must seat at least three (I still have two kids at home) it must have plenty of space under the hood to work in and be easy to work on (that's the biggie for me), and finally I would prefer a standard. After some looking I came up with a 94 YJ Jeep Wrangler. It ticks all the boxes for me and is fun too.
Here it is on one of our unusual SW Oklahoma snow days.
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