netman

Beautiful. This is the answer I was looking for. I thought I could do this, but I was not sure. Now that somewhat else has done it, I will replace my Tensioner pulley with the same pulley I used to replace my Idler pulley. Thanks for your reply.

No this is not the timing belt. You are correct, timing on the H6 3.0 is a chain. There is one serpentine belt that drives everything - alternator, A/C, water pump, and power steering. There is an Idler pulley and a Tensioner pulley. I feel pretty confident that the Idler pulley and Tensioner pulley are interchangeable, especially after reading some of the posts here. As I said before, the Tensioner pulley is OK for now, but it sounds like it could go bad before long. It's very easy to replace. However the Tensioner assembly is not quite as accessible, which why I just want to replace the pulley only. The Idler pulley failed catastrophically - grinding metal and ball bearings falling out.

I had both pulleys off and they are identical. This is on an H6 3.0 Outback. The pulleys are the same size - both depth and width (diameter). Also, the attachment bolt is identical on both pulleys. The only difference I can see is the Idler pulley screws into a threaded housing, and the bolt on the Tensioner pulley goes into a smooth hole in the tensioner bracket and is secured by a nut on the other side. The bolts are interchangeable. The Idler pulley costs about $42 and the Tensioner assembly (the tensioner and pulley) is about $97. I needed to replace the Idler pulley because it failed. While the pulley on the Tensioner appears to be in good condition, it does make a strange sound when you spin it, which indicates to me that its life is probably short. For this reason, I wanted to change both pulleys, but I did not want to change the Tensioner assembly just to change the pulley. The reason is not just the cost. The Tensioner assembly is harder to get to, and I did not want to change it if I did not have to. The pulley on the tensioner is very easy to remove and replace. I still don't understand why it does not have a separate part number.

I've got an '01 H6 Outback, and I need to replace the Idler pulley. I noticed that the Tensioner pullery looks the same as the Idler pulley. I wanted to replace them both, but the Tensioner pulley can only be purchased with the Tensioner assembly, even though the pulley is easily removed and appears to be the same as the Idler pulley. When I talked to a dealer about just replacing the pulley on the tensioner and not the complete assembly, he said Subaru does not recommend replacing just the pulley on the tensioner. If so, he said, Subaru would have a separate part number for it, which they don't. Are the Idler pulley and the Tensioner pulley interchangeable? Does anyone have any experience replacing the Idler pulley and/or Tensioner pulley on the H6 Outback? Any information would be appreciated.