Ok so this is the e-mail between me and the customer service rep.
Hello Benjamin,
There is quite the confusion on the invoice that I have received so I will try my best to tell you all the information I have here. I understand that there can be problems around the warehouse listings/paper work, also with the manufacturer specs. I hope that there can be a reasonable conclusion to all of this.
On the paper work that i have here it says that a Goodyear Tensioner pulley was shipped to me #49006, but i physically have recieved a ford tensioner pulley with different part numbers on the box and the part itself. To add to the confusion, the paperwork says a Ford Idler pulley was sent when i revieved a Goodyear Idler pulley. The goodyear box lists it as a Idler pulley as well. Do you have a 49006 Goodyear box that says "Tensioner pulley" physically on the description of the box from the manufacturer?
According to the listing you have and what goodyear has on their website the #49006 should work as a tensioner and idler pulley. The dimensions that I've measured for the goodyear pulley are 76mm x (31.0mm - 31.5mm). I dont have a digital caliper to measure it that accurately, but its a little bit over the 31mm mark. On your website every other pulley is 31 - 30.5mm wide which will make up for the difference of it touching. It seems that 1mm is probably all it needs to clear. The stock tensioner pulley is a little under 31mm. It looks like a 30.5mm width pulley x 76mm. I'm not able to measure the 17mm section due to a lack of measuring tools. Ive asked around the Thunderbird, Cougar, and Mustang clubs; some people have had this problem as well. They solved the issue by either shimming their stock ford tensioner arm away from the timing cover (which I'm not comfortable with due to debris going in between the tensioner and timing cover), replacing the ford tensioner with a goodyear tensioner to match their good year pulley (see below paragraph for explanation), or grinding the timing cover down (which I'm also not comfortable with doing because the timing cover is a difficult and costly repair if something breaks on it).
I have also noticed the AC Delco branded tensioner pulley listed for my vehicle is 30.5mm. Can we either ship this AC Delco #38006 pulley or a Goodyear tensioner arm #49236? According to the rockauto listing the pulley on the goodyear tensioner arm assembly's pulley is measured up at 30.5mm compared to the Goodyear tensioner pulley by itself, measured @ 31.1mm. The proof is there on the listing that there is a difference in pulley width by 0.6mm. I would prefer if I could receive the Goodyear belt tensioner assembly #49236 instead, due to the pulley width difference as is listed.
I hope this information does help in fixing this issue, maybe for future reference it can be mentioned in the part description that there is, in fact a difference between pulleys and tensioners. I think that goodyear should be made aware of this difference.
Thanks
Kyle
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Dear Kyle,
Thank you for your response. I have done some digging into this and my final conclusion is that you are correct, the Goodyear Part # 49006 will not work as a tensioner pulley on your Cougar, as it is too wide, and thus would be an idler pulley for the car. The Goodyear catalog does appear to show that the part is both a tensioner and idler pulley, but this information is contradictory both to their buyers guide, and the application specifics provided by all other manufactures we carry.
Subsequent to the listing error in Goodyear's catalog it ended up an error in ours as well. Since this was an error that was outside your control we would not want to send you a second of that part, as it would be the exact same as the first. We cannot reship an alternate part in place of a part ordered due to inventory issues, as a result we are going to have to issue you a full refund on the incorrect tensioner pulley, for the value of the part, any outbound shipping and taxes associated with it. The refund will be issued within three days and we will email when this has happened.
To question the issue you have run into with the "Ford" part/part numbers. I am not sure if you are aware that Motorcraft is Ford Parts sister company, thus they will often list both, or only one of the Ford or Motorcraft part numbers. The Motorcraft Part # YS245 should be the correct idler pulley for your car, was there any issues with that part fitting? If not we are happy that the issue with this order was isolated to the Goodyear part, but if indeed there are any issues with that part please let us know.
As of now we are needing nothing further from you, unless you have issues with the Motorcraft part. The refund on the Goodyear part will be issued within three days and we will email when this has happened. The refund will be issued without needing you to send the part back to us.
Please let us know if you have additional questions and we will be happy to help. Thanks again for shopping with us at RockAuto, have a great day!
Thank you,
Benjamin
RockAuto Customer Service