PS belt slipped off last night, and it slipped onto this pulley. The red mark in the picture is where the pulley was. Right now the car drives perfectly fine (other than no power steering). My question is, is this pulley necessary, or can I put my belt back on and be fine?

 

It looks like the A/C tensioner idler pulley... although the middle of the bearing is missing. It is not needed for P/S, however, you WILL have to replace it (and any other missing parts for the A/C tensioner assembly) if you want to get A/C working again.

 

Haha you're absolutely right. I knew it looked like the AC pulley, but when I went to check it at first, I saw the nut was still in place assuming that the pulley was still attached to the nut.....

How in the world did it fall out if the nut is still tight on the bracket??? LOL

Thanks for your response! I'll get the pulley back on tomorrow morning (assuming the bearings are still also attached behind the nut)

 

You need another pulley... that one FAILED. The bearings are gone and all that will still be bolted to the bracket is the inner race. Fortunately for you, all of the hardware is still present, so get a new pulley and put it back together.

 

Yes sir!
Checked it out this morning and instantly ordered an OEM pulley & bearings. I'm very lucky that it only took my PS belt off, and that I even managed to recover the PS belt itself.

Thanks for your time!