I was really lucky because my idler pulley was almost off

DOLLFACE

MEMBER
1996 JEEP CHEROKEE
143,000 MILES

Hi, I brought my jeep in to the garage today because there was a weird noise coming from under my hood. I drove it 5 blocks to get it there. It shut down on my three times. I finally go it there and the guy said I was really lucky because my idler pulley was almost off. He said this was the reason why it was making that noise but is it also the reason why my jeep shut off 3 times?

1 Reply

SQM

MECHANIC
6,383 POSTS

Hello,

Just for having a loose idler pulley should not cause it to stall.
If the belt comes off or it does not spin the alternator and other accessories, the vehicle will be hard to turn due to no power steering, it will also trigger the low charging system light. This will stall the engine after the battery is depleted and it will not start back up.

So, what happened after the idle pulleys were installed?
Did it stall again, or did it drive normally?

One of the reasons an engine can stall while driving is due to a faulty crankshaft position sensor. The crank sensor sends the engine rotation data to the ECM. Faulty sensor will send incorrect data and that can trigger an engine shutdown.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-a-bad-crankshaft-sensor

I have attached diagrams for your reference.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you.

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