Vortech idler pulleys seizing and belts breaking
 

Well after having this happen to me yesterday, I noticed another member posted today of the same issue. Maybe more will pop up soon as well...
this happened to me yesterday, belt shredded and my idler pulley on the compressor assembly looks melted in the center and off balanced seeming to be due to a bad bearing in the pulley and the lip is chewed off (4500 miles on my kit, never tracked, never abused). I contacted vortech about this today and I was told I needed to send the bad parts to them for them to be looked at and determine the cause first. I'm not going to do that since this is my daily and that would leave my car down for at least a week since I'm in Georgia. Not to mention shipping charges as well, and no guarantee that I would even be given replacement parts. When I easily fixed the problem myself for $35 in one day. The idler is a dayco 3" smooth pulley with lip part # 89003, cost me $17 and a new replacement belt. Not a big deal but definatley not something I expected from a $5k kit. Pics... And more later of the pulley after I removed it since my phones acting weird
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psf12bc706.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ps2c69caf4.jpg
Lip of the plastic pulley I found melted off in the bay
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ps9598163f.jpg
Shredded belt
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ps124a3eff.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psba61e0cf.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...psf0b185af.jpg

Other thread that the problem is mentioned from post#5 down
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40985

That kit uses the stock tensioner, right?

Were you hearing noise before this happened?

Nope, happened all of a sudden. No sounds or vibrations or differnece in drivability. To be honest I wouldn't have noticed if I didnt smell the faint smell of plastic burning when I got home and parked my car in the garage. I figured I ran over a plastic bag or something on my exhaust. When I popped my hood I was shocked at what I saw

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...ley-to-do-this

http://forums.corral.net/forums/gt-s...n-problem.html

http://www.cherokeesrt8.com/forums/a...p/t-45345.html


In the SRT8 forum they mention the Dayco 89003 as a replacement....

Perhaps they just got a batch of crap pulleys?

Looks like I've got something to do this weekend... change that pulley before it seizes.

I heard a noise that sounded like when someone rat tails someone with a wet towel. Heard it a second time but very faint this time. I looked at my dash and noticed the battery light came on. I pulled over to the side of the road and looked under the hood. To my surprise the belt was severed in half.

I think I found the issue. At lesst my issue that is tied to this will post up video in a bit.

Did that noise turn out to be the idler pulley?

Awesome

this is why i wait on FI kits... lol

I need to talk to Brian so they can send me new pulley and intake tube.

Here you guys go this is what I found to be my issue. I also through together a 5 minute video of the process:

[ame]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ovXSuQ33Ss[/ame]

Dezoris, Thank you for your videos. I had watched your install videos earlier tonight and now this video. You not only do very nice production in your videos, but your honesty is refreshing. I have no intentions of installing one of these, but if I ever did you really gave me an honest assessment of what it entails. Having done many similar installs over the years on different vehicles, we often forget that it is not all sunshine and lolipops. Yes, sometimes we have a wonderful install and ownership experience, but that is certainly the exception and not the rule. Thanks again and good luck to you.

Thanks I really appreciate that! After staying away from modding for a long time, this car has certainly been a mix of both good and bad.

One thing is for sure if I can get through the bugs of I may start enjoying driving it more.

@Brian@Vortech perhaps you might want to chime in on this

This was the noise I started hearing which maybe bearing noise from that pulley at this point.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgyYmguXMZQ"]FR-S Vortech Pulley Noise - YouTube[/ame]

Same here.

So many headaches with this kit already

Whats the return policy on this anyways, cannot find it on the vortech page

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2c1be056.jpg

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/...ps27c506a5.jpg

I've PM'd him and I think he's aware of the situation, he's mostly involved in their social media and marketing so there's not much he can do himself. But I was asked to talk to a tech and that's where it went south for me. I explained what I found and what had happened, and the techs replys were very defensive and seemed to act as if it was my fault. I was asked to send my parts back to Vortech to be looked at to determine what would be done after that. But come to find out another member here that had the same failure as me contacted Vortech and with no questions asked already has another belt and pulley on the way to him. I feel like I've been given the run around and it could have been handled better for me.

My pulley is in perfect condition. It has barely brushed my intake pipe. I did feel nervous about that plastic pulley before install because it did wiggle.

I will say this some of these ground down pulleys "could" be installation error. I still have room to position the pipe higher on the the supplied bracket.

If you are driving the car during the winter do you have a battle plan for a blower heater for cold starts?

My pulley has not touched anything, i don't even think the pipe could touch the idler pulley if I wanted it to. It's ground down because the belt has jumped from the idler wiggling (because bearings failed) and caused the belt to ride on the lip of the idler. Then causing the idler to act like a saw hacking up the belt and taking chunks of the lip with it. My pulley hasn't touched anything. Oh and mine was in perfect shape a few days ago as well.....then it happened. No way it could be installation error. The pulley is pre installed on the blower assembly (but every bolt was checked to be tight before installation like the instructions say to do so) and nothing was loose when I removed the bad parts. I'm an A&P licensed aircraft mechanic. I'm very methodical in my installations. Like I've already stated, its really not that big a deal to me because it was a cheap easy fix. I just don't like how the situation was treated in my personal case by vortech and I would like to warn others of potential future problems and where to get replacement parts with part #s

Just checked my pulley/pipe clearance. No issues.
When I installed, I lifted the pipe before tightening the couplers/bracket for this exact reason

It looks like less from the picture, but there is a good 8-9mm of clearance between pulley/pipe

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/10...ps4bf352a2.jpg

No rubbing

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/10...ps47f6c306.jpg


Also, all owners should check their pipe for rubbing... it took less than 2 minutes with a flat blade screwdriver and a 10mm wrench to pull the pipe and check.

The pipe DOES contact the hood insulation, but it doesn't really put pressure on the hood/pipe and only touches when fully closed.

I am changing the pulley for a dayco/Duralast pulley. I wonder what the mfr. of the pulley that comes with our system is....

Dayco 89003 is the factory vortech part, its molded onto the pulley near the bearing when you remove it you can see it. I haven't been able to find another compatible brand of pulley yet

How about the gates 38006? Its slightly wider, but its steel and the diameter and all other measurements seem to be the same minus the width.

Dayco 89003 Pulley
76mm x 17mm Flat w/Flange, 26mm wide

Gates 38006
Steel Smooth/Backside 76mm x 17mm x 30.5mm

Its listed as a cross-reference for the 89003, and looks like it will actually give more room than the dayco pulley because it does not have the "guide" ridges on the ends of the pulley

Also are you guys removing the blower to change the belt?

It looks like with enough cursing, you don't need to.....

Hmm I will check when i get back in town next weekend for other places i may be rubbing. I am at 1,500-2,000 miles and just checked my idler pulley. Looks perfect. I have a decent clearance and everything is completely centered between pulleys, brackets, etc. I just made sure to line that up when installing. However when i reinstalled the MAF up pipe i forgot to check for clearance. I will verify if maybe instead of rubbing against the pulley if i am rubbing against the chasis on the passenger side.

Although the thought of a potential belt issue is un-easy considering when i get back i have a ~1,500+ mile road trip in the car coming up.

It may work but I'm unsure. Im hesitant on it without the ridges/lips though, I figure they are there for a reason. I also think the kit needs a slightly smaller belt to. After the upgraded compressors were released with the 9psi pulleys the belts were still never changed. So with a slightly smaller pulley I figure the tensioner isn't as tight. I think the gates belt is 98.110" long , maybe a 97.5" or 98" would be better

I checked mine this morning. There's a little wear spot on the pipe but I notices if you make sure to push it in till it hits the throttle biddy it self there's alot more room. I do have to say I am disappointed in Vortech service latley I have been trying to contact the guy that sold me my kit for about two months now.

I truly don't think this is a rubbing issue, at least in my case I know it wasn't. Just a random bad idler pulley is the culprit. May just be a bad batch

who sold you the kit?

And i had my few bits and issues i still need to talk to Brian again i just havent gotten an organized list. I as well had pushed my pipe as close to the throttle as i could if i remember correctly. I was just trying to make sure i had enough "slip room" in my coupler.

Hell I still don't even have the revised alternator bracket. I had to grind a good but out of my alternator casting to get it to fit properly

Ok well that's good for you. What I meant was for the people who have rubbing pulleys in pipes that's instalation error. Just because you are an aircraft mechanic dose not make you immune to "mistakes". Apparently you got a bad pulley. Also the installation error would be installing the pipe too close to the pulley


Also if people start putting in metal pulleys and that pulley rubs the pipe it may rub through the pipe. So take care to anyone who installs a metal pulley.

My point is... This thread is about failing pulleys and defective parts, it wasn't started because of a pulley rubbing on pipes (i agree that is install error) but it is somewhat related . And not once did I say I don't make mistakes but in my line of work, mistakes cost people their lives. So I tend to triple check things and be more thorough than a lot of others I know. Never said you or anyone else don't know what your doing so no need to get defensive

the dude in the video is lucky he checked it when he did. doesn't look like it'd have been long before that pipe had rubbed all the way though, probably sending all sort of little metal bits through the throttle body in the process.

Here is mine this morning. Had some strange looks from my neighbors as I was swearing at my phone to take the damn picture

Top side. Both edges of the pulley look good.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/9...c4d8a887_c.jpg
20130709-VortechBeltClearance-001 by VictorN07, on Flickr

The engine was completely cold, but I have clearance
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2871/9...c3d318b3_c.jpg
20130709-VortechBeltClearance-002 by VictorN07, on Flickr

It may be beneficial to put a very small indention into the pipe where the contact points are closest to the 2 pulleys for the rubbing issue. It couldn't effect flow that much and I'd rather have that compared to a pipe with a hole in it

I was thinking this too heat up the aluminum a little and give it a tap with a dead blow. Emphasis on the word tap. Hahha so do you think the metal pulley would have better bearings because the pulley is heavier than the plastic

I checked mine just now in the parking lot, belt & pulley both look good. I took some pics but I can't post 'em till I get home.

Does it sound reasonable to you guys that I may have more clearance because I swapped engine mounts?

Exactly how i would do it, but as far as the metal pulley goes I have no clue. Just because its metal doesn't mean the bearings are any better. Someone be the guinea pig

I'm curious to see how many people are having issues due to an actual part failure such as the bearing in the pully seizing. So far we know of one instance and some others are just having issues with the pully rubbing the intake pipe. I checked mine last night immediately after looking at this thread and everything looks good with clearance between the pipe and pulley.