What am I missing - Upper Idler Pulley replacement

[428street]

Pulling my hair out. I thought this was supposed to be easy!!!

Replacing upper and lower idler pulleys. Lower went on no issues.

Upper is giving me a super hard time. Bolt hits firewall.

Took off the lower bolt on the alternator as I thought it work give me some relief. Not to be. Actually, that is a problem of it's own as I can't get the bolt started again. Might have crossed first thread. I have to clean the thread with a chaser to start.

I finally got the long bolt out after about a half hour of wiggling, jiggling, etc. I dread getting it back in on such as angle.

I have to be missing something here...please advise...

[seventythree]

I don't mean to be condescending, but why are you putting yourself through so much grief? Doesn't your car have only 17K miles on it? A lot of the stuff you are replacing are totally unnecessary.

I recently installed an underdrive pulley, along with a new water pump and thermostat, on my 2002 base with 65K miles. While in there, I checked on the condition of all drive belt pulleys and they were all fine!

Put your toolbox away and start driving the darn thing long enough to actually break or wear out something before you replace it.

[428street]

There is nothing I have replaced or am replacing that I don't think is justified. My oil tube was completely saturated in oil. I replaced it. I replaced the original cabin filter. I replaced the original air filter. I changed the oil and added a magnetic plug. I replaced the AOS as I thought I had a bad one - that was not necessary but it's done and was cheap. I replaced the 12 year old spark plugs. Unreasonable? I replaced the 12 year old belt. Unreasonable? I cleaned the throttle body after 12 years. Unreasonable? One of the things that got me going on this overall project was I had a high pitched sound coming from behind the drives seat area. I took the cover off and was unable to locate where the sound was coming from after the WD40 deal, etc. so I replaced the two idler pulleys. Noise is still there and I think I have finally found the culprit.

If you think I am randomly replacing things because I have nothing better to do then you are mistake. Am I a fiddler, ya, I am. It brings me happiness. I like to learn. I like the adventure. I like mechanics. I also like things to be as perfect as I can make them.

Fortunately I have more time then most and I'm not living check to check so if I spend or overspend on a couple of things then so be it...

[seventythree]

Hey, my bad. Should've kept my mouth shut.

[grubinski]

I had the same issue. I have no idea how Porsche thinks you should get the bolt out ... perhaps by dropping the engine. Instead of doing that, I bent the firewall sheet metal forward about 1/2" to get the bolt out, and bent it back when I was done.

You can be sure I thought about this a lot before I did it, and that was the only way I could see that it was going to come out.

[Cajundaddy]

Originally Posted by grubinski

I had the same issue. I have no idea how Porsche thinks you should get the bolt out ... perhaps by dropping the engine. Instead of doing that, I bent the firewall sheet metal forward about 1/2" to get the bolt out, and bent it back when I was done.

You can be sure I thought about this a lot before I did it, and that was the only way I could see that it was going to come out.

+1
No way I would change em at 17k though.

[jwgn777]

I never did this job on my Boxster so I guess if you remove the rear cover behind the seats this bolt still hits something?

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

+1
No way I would change em at 17k though.

IMHO low miles may be worse. When I bought my '99 with 20k miles, it had a bad bearing on one of the pulleys. Also had an IMS bearing that had play. Doubt it would have lasted much longer.

Simple matter to spin them with the belt off, and see if the bearing is smooth/quiet.

Sorry I can't offer advice on replacement, I did it with the engine out, and it was easy.

[pharaohjb]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but you are getting to these pulleys from the access panel behind the seats, right? I don't see how the upper idler pulley could hit the firewall from the photos here at Pelican.

[bell]

I know what's going on here.....ran into it a few times.
The idler pulley he is talking about has a very long bolt which also bolts the right side of the alternator.
Some cars i've seen where this bolt his the center section of the service hole right next to where the shifter cables go through it.....
A real pia....but I have a solution.....
Very very carefully use a pair of channel lock, tape up the teeth so it won't mark up the metal, and bend the corner of it outward until you have clearance, almost into a fold.....and it'll clear.
When done bend it back to position.
just be careful and there will be no visible evidence,

[grubinski]

In the picture below, when the bolt designated by the red arrow is moved in the direction of the green arrow, it hits the sheetmetal corner shown by the yellow line. I moved the sheetmetal in the direction of the yellow arrow.