Name that pulley....

[kcobean]

I went out for a drive today and on the way home, about 2 miles from the house, I heard/felt a 'pop' that sounded just like something puncturing a tire. Steering got heavy and I thought to myself "here's that excuse I was looking for to put new rubber on the car."

I pulled over to get out and look and nope, no flat tire. Then I got back in the car and noticed that the water temp gauge was almost in the red and heading north. I was very close to home, so I just got up to speed and basically coasted to the house (I even shut the engine off and just coasted for a good bit of the way).

Safe and sound back in the garage, I popped the hood and noticed that the serpentine belt was loose. I thought it was broken, but nope. Turns out that one of the pulleys has come completely off and is laying in the bottom of the engine bay. I have A/C on my ACR, so the pulleys on the car that are still in tact are:

1. Power Steering (Top, drivers side)
2. A/C (Bottom, drivers side)
3. Alternator (Top, passenger side)
4. idler pulley (Top, passenger side, just inboard of the alternator pulley)
5. Water pump (Top, about centerline of engine
6. Tension Arm Pulley (Below Alternator)

So what's the big one down at the bottom of the engine just to the passengers side of center? That's the one that popped off. I'm waiting for the engine to cool down so I can take a better look...

God I love this car.

 

[GTSJERRY]

I would guess that it is the serp belt tensioner, i had the same thing happen to my 96 gts, the plastic pulley broke loose from the tensioner. If my memory serves me right i had to take the alternator loose to change it but it was pretty simple.

 

[Mccarlin]

Power steering pulley/and or bracket im guessing. they are plastic on the GENII's and are prone to breaking. I have a new billet bracket going on this week to help this. i should get the billet pulley as well

 

[kcobean]

It's not the tensioner arm pulley or the power steering pump pulley. I have both of those accounted for in my list. Power steering is top/driver-side, tensioner arm is immediately below the alternator. both are in tact. This is the BIG pulley at the bottom of the engine.

 

[AJT]

Harmonic balancer?

 

[Shelby3]

Crank pulley bolt came loose. Happens frequently. It can ruin the crank.

 

[JUCD VPR]

Crank pulley!

 

[kcobean]

CRANK PULLEY!!! Why didn't I think of that? Something has to turn all the other pulleys! LOL. So given that I kept the RPMs low, is it likely that I hurt anything internally?

I don't have a shop manual (I guess I'll be buying one now though!)

Does anyone know the torque on the bolt?

 

[VIPER BAZ UK]

I think it is 250 ftlbs but sure someone will correct me if i;m wrong....

 

[Shelby3]

250 ftlbs is correct. Use red loctite and consider the pin kit ROE sells for extra protection. If the crank is wallowed out, your screwed and it has to be replaced.

 

[kcobean]

Thanks. Can you define "wallowed out" for me? I don't like screwed.

 

[Shelby3]

If the bolt rattled around in the crank and enlarged the hole it goes in. It happened to the previous owner of my car and the crank had to be replaced.

 

[kcobean]

Thanks Shelby3. I appreciate it.

 

[ronniej]

I bought a GEN3 engine that the harmonic balancer/pulley came loose and wallowed out. The balancer hole was actually egg shaped. I called Chuck Tator and he sent me a new balancer. I also installed the Roe Racing pinning kit to make sure it didn't happen again. It was all fine and dandy before I sold the engine.

 

[Mopar488]

It happened to me on my 00 GTS. The bolt was not torqued to 250 ftlb from the factory. It was a $1600 repair that was covered under factory warranty. I never really did trust the car after that. I was always watching the temp guage to make sure I was not overheating. It is a common problem, but unnecessary since someone in Q.C. should have caught it and there should have been a recall. That was the first thing I checked when I bought my 96, that crank pulley bolt.

 

[kcobean]

Well, I got the front end of the car pulled apart enough tonight to get the crank pulley and bolt out and inspect the shaft, pulley and bolt. There was a sliver of thread that came out of the end of the shaft. I can't turn the bolt back in the hole all the way by hand, which doesn't mean a whole lot, but I don't have a socket big enough yet to torque it back down (I'm borrowing the socket/wrench from the ever gracious Mr. Hemi Head this week). This would have been much more difficult if I hadn't taken the hood off, that's for sure.

The pulley (or harmonic balancer) looks relatively undamaged. The threads of the bolt had no loc-tite on them, though the crank pulley was taken off recently by a qualified Viper tech. Not sure what happened there.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys. This was pretty scary for a new Viper owner, but hopefully will be an easy fix.

 

[Shelby3]

Well, I got the front end of the car pulled apart enough tonight to get the crank pulley and bolt out and inspect the shaft, pulley and bolt. There was a sliver of thread that came out of the end of the shaft. I can't turn the bolt back in the hole all the way by hand, which doesn't mean a whole lot, but I don't have a socket big enough yet to torque it back down (I'm borrowing the socket/wrench from the ever gracious Mr. Hemi Head this week). This would have been much more difficult if I hadn't taken the hood off, that's for sure.

The pulley (or harmonic balancer) looks relatively undamaged. The threads of the bolt had no loc-tite on them, though the crank pulley was taken off recently by a qualified Viper tech. Not sure what happened there.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys. This was pretty scary for a new Viper owner, but hopefully will be an easy fix.

Note as mentioned in the other thread that the crank pulley can be removed without removing the crank bolt that secures the harmonic balancer. Therefore it may not have been the fault of the recent Viper tech removing just the pulley. Definitely use red loctite and seriously consider pinning the crank while your in there. You're also going to need a 250lb torque wrench.