2 quick (hopefully) SC tech questions

I recently replaced all 3 idler pulleys on my car, as one had a bearing seize up. The car is a stock 95 SC/auto.

The 3 new pulleys are the same size. One came from NAPA, the other 2 from Advance. The NAPA was labeled as a NAPA part, the ones from Advance are Dorman. I installed them, and they seem to be working fine

As I was cleaning up from the job, I had all 3 original pulleys side by side, and I realized, they are not the same size.

Now, I don't know which one is which. I know which one was on the alternator / power steering / water pump / AC belt, as it has the seized bearing, but the other 2, I'm not certain.

Should they be the same size? Should I be looking at different suppliers? If someone has part #s for Napa, Autozone, Advance, O'Reilleys or somewhere else, I can try to find the right parts.

Will having the wrong sized idlers make a significant difference in a 17 year old car with a lot of miles on it?

Second question:
Along with all the idlers, I also did a reman power steering pump, a new water pump, new thermostat, and hoses. The PS pump got to the point where I had virtually zero power assist at slow speeds, such as parking. Towards its end, I would occasionally get a flicker from the alternator light. Once or twice, the car even died at low speed.

The alternator is a reman that is about 8 years old, give or take. It has a lifetime warranty from autozone.

After running for nearly a week with no leaks, great power steering, etc, last night, as I was pulling out of a parking spot, the alternator light flickered. Maybe for a second or two. Hasn't since.

I checked the battery, it's at about 12.6 volts. I checked it while idling, and the charging voltage was 14.2. Granted, it's not a load test, but it's what I can do in my driveway with what I have handy.

I did notice the ground terminal on the battery was loose. I cleaned the cable and the battery terminal and reattached.

When the alternator went bad, the alternator light stayed on constantly. Should I worry about the flicker? Could the loose ground be the cause of the alternator light being flickering?

If the alternator and battery are fine, and the alternator light flickers again, where else should I look?

Thanks!

1. The idlers should all be the same size. Someone may have changed them before you owned the car and purchased a different size.

2. The flicker was probably the loose cable. Autozone alternators have shown a history of hit and miss on working. Not much different than others, but recently the rebuild or manufactoring on them has left some with a bad taste in their mouth.

With warm weather and a lot of new..

Maybe take a second look at the alternator and see if the belt has stretched a little.

Paul

I don't think a small difference in idler size will matter, because the tensioners will just take up the slack. How big a difference are we talking about? But anyway, I think the tensioners were the same size originally, as the other poster mentioned.

94/95

The 94 and 95 sc have two different sized tensioner pulleys from factory. The jack shaft to sc one should be slightly smaller than the other two pulleys. Dayco lists the replacement part to be the same for all 3 (part # 89016) and they work just fine.

Alternator: If the light is still flickering take the alternator back to Autozone. In the past year I've replace 3 of them from Autozone with the same issue. These were the better lifetime warranty ones. One the light flickered after two months of service. The other was replaced because the pulley would slip on the hub because of a machining error and the 3rd one has been on for about 6 months now. This is not to imply this is your problem, but wanted to share my experience with Autozone's alternator.

The one with the pulley slipping I called the alternator company directly as they are ISO 9001 certified. I wanted an explanation on how the alternator passed all of their "rigorous" tests... They didn't really give me a good feeling about how it made it through their top of the line quality protocol.

I'll throw a couple more questions out there...

1) The chin spoiler or air dam or whatever you want to call it under my front bumper is disintegrating. I've zip tied it back in place a few times, and it's just swiss cheese at this point. Can anyone suggest a decent replacement part? Either something from another manufacturer, or something I can fabricate myself out of readily available materials? I don't think Ford still sells original parts, and I imagine all the ones on cars in scrapyards are as trashed as mine. Not the actual bumper cover, but the part that hangs below it and ducts air up to the radiator.

2) What plugs and wires do you recommend? Bone stock daily driven car, so I don't need expensive or fancy, having said that, if paying a premium means they will last longer, or I'll get better mileage or better reliability, I don't mind spending more. This looks like a job I'd prefer to do once

Thanks!

1. Have to hit the junkyard or try ford I believe the part number is 8327, but those are getting harder and harder to come by. http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/CatalogResults.aspx?y=1995&m=Ford&mo=Thunderbird#Search is a picture. If that link doesnt work try this one: http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/CatalogResults.aspx?y=1995&m=Ford&mo=Thunderbird#Search

2. Plugs and wires, I only run Motorcraft. Use the search function to get a current part number. The originals are no longer made. Some run the 103 Autolites I believe. Most of us just use the copper and replace them once a year, but most don't drive them year round either.

BirdofPrey97 said:

1. Have to hit the junkyard or try ford I believe the part number is 8327, but those are getting harder and harder to come by. http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/CatalogResults.aspx?y=1995&m=Ford&mo=Thunderbird#Search is a picture. If that link doesnt work try this one: http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/CatalogResults.aspx?y=1995&m=Ford&mo=Thunderbird#Search

2. Plugs and wires, I only run Motorcraft. Use the search function to get a current part number. The originals are no longer made. Some run the 103 Autolites I believe. Most of us just use the copper and replace them once a year, but most don't drive them year round either.

Click to expand...

That site is pretty cool! I can buy a complete engine for $2523.64 LOL Maybe that's the way to go the next time I have a problem

Well, I put about 500 miles on the car this weekend, and haven't seen another battery light flicker. Hopefully tightening down the ground cable fixed everything Now, to fix my wife's Explorer! Never a dull moment!