well, hopefully i can do it, and come up with a writeup of some kind so people dont have to buy the idler pulley

OK well it turns out that I may be doing this after all. At my request FM checked out the bearing on the pulley assy I was going to purchase before they shipped it. The bearing is in questionable condition so I will not be buying that particular unit. I have called Planet Miata and Parts Group and neither have a used one in stock. According to the guy I talked to at Parts Group they are hard to come by and he gets several calls a week looking for them.

I also checked ebay and could not find one, though it could be a matter of search terminology; that is, I am not searching under the correct name for the item. 'Miata pulley' for example did not yield anything other than crank pulleys. 'Belt', 'tensioner' and 'idler' did not work either.

So, unless anyone has any ideas on where I can get one used (or a new one cheap) I may end up doing this. :vash:

well, i've not gotten off my lazy ass to do it so, i wanna see some pictures :D

ZX-Tex, it's a cheap pressed in bearing. Get the unit, and source a new bearing from McMaster-Carr. Probably cost you all of 8 bucks with shipping.

If you dont, I will. I cant find one anywhere for a decent price.

OK thanks for the tip. I'll give them a call tomorrow.

I agree. I have one sitting in my garage and you could definitely source a new one by taking 3 measurement: ID, OD, and thickness. Then go to MM-C website and search via those parameters. You'll have a virtually new assembly for cheap.

I'd give PanicMotorsports a call or shoot them an email. I've dealt with them often and that is where I sourced my pulley from. Search for them on google to find their contact info.

Thread resurrection...

I have the PS pump out right now and took it apart to asses the feasibility of gutting it and using it as an idler pulley. It is indeed a rotary vane pump. But due to the way the pulley shaft is retained, the only internal parts that can be gutted is the vanes themselves; they are easily removed from the rotor. This should deactivate the pump such that it cannot develop any appreciable pressure other than perhaps some windage pumping.

But, the bearings that support the pulley shaft are journal bearings. Thus between the bearings, and the tight clearances between the remaining components, I do not think it would be a good idea to just pack it with grease and call it good. Therefore it would probably be best to fill it with hydraulic fluid and cap off the inlet/outlet ports with a breather of some sort.

Double thread resurrect.

I am considering doing this. Has anyone done this and run it for any length of time? Unless someone reports back with terrible results I will be doing this. I really would like to keep my A/C so ditching it all together is not an option. And I don't really want to spend money on an idler, which seem difficult to find anyways.

Are you guys just trying to depower this way?

I don't get how using the pump as the tensioner would gain you any room for routing. The pumps still there. Seems like a waste.

Would be cool if someone made a tensioner and found a small belt to put directly between the crank and a/c. Would beat the beat the heck out of the idler setup.

I don't need to remove the pump, no routing issues, just trying to depower.

The idler bracket that allows A/C without a PS pump is quickly becoming a rare item. So gutting the PS pump was being explored as an option.

Others have discussed making the A/C unit adjustable. Good idea in theory, not necessarily easy in practice.

Well I'll be doing this when I get back. One way or another it will work since I am keeping A/C.

How much are these worth? Are they expensive, or just not available?

They are expensive because they are rare. I don't think many stores carry them anymore, so you have to wait around for a part out or get lucky and find a junk car that has one.

I just sold mine for ~$75. They were still available from Mazda when I was shopping so they can't be too rare. I also tried the 'direct belt' option and couldn't find one close enough to try shimming the AC pump. A new AC bracket that was adjustable would be awesome plus the stock one seems to weigh around 50 pounds...:vash: