I was helping a friend with his 2007 Fit. His belt snapped off because the idler pulley seized up. We replaced the belt and pulley but the new one did not have the proper clearance for the dust cup. Unfortunately we didn't notice that and the pulley came loose while he was driving and we lost one of the bosses. The local dealership says they can't sell the boss separately and wants to charge 250 bucks for everything. In the meantime I tensioned the belt without the pulley. Is this going to cause any issues? We drove it around for a while and everything seems fine.

 

The idler forces the serp belt to wrap the other pulleys correctly, belt life will be shorter usually but you've already seen the failure mode. It won't get worse.. The idlers also are often to control belt harmonics that can prematurely age the alternator and AC bearings..

 

Thanks for the quick response. Found the part online significantly cheaper. I guess it should be ok for a few days while we wait for the part.

 

Update.
We got the pulley on but now the belt will not go on. Alternator is as far aft as it will go. Is there a trick to this?

 

bumpity bump bump?