Bad night for the boosted FRS last night...

[SPCorBUST]

Just because something is bolted on doesn't means its infallible. I'm counting engine movement as a possibility because everything is vibrating each time the motor is on, and even though things are bolted down, there's an inherent amount of stress applied and an inherent level of tolerance observed before failure any part fails. To me, it seems plausible that adding extra stress and movement from a supercharger kit with a small adapter bolted into the immediate vicinity of the failed part could have brought it over the tolerance threshold. Could I be wrong? Of course! I'm not saying thats exactly what the issue was here, I'm just saying I can believe it. One thing to consider is whether the tolerance threshold is so high that any movement in that vicinity is a non-issue. I don't know, I'm not an engineer, but I can't see why I'd rule it out.

[mit_peid]

Originally Posted by SPCorBUST

out of curiosity, how many miles/how long have you had your kit?

I had a little over 8000 miles on the Kraftwerks kit (16,500 total miles on the car) when this failure occurred. Coming up on about the 1 year mark for the install.


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[mit_peid]

The new OEM idler pulley came in this week and finally found some time to work on the car today due to the President's day holiday. Getting to the idler pulley was not as bad as I feared. I simply removed all the bolts off the kraftwerks bracket except for the one on the lower right (when viewed from the front), removed the kraftwerks tensioner pulley, removed some of the piping on the blower, and I was able to simply rotate the entire assembly to the side. This will come in handy when I decide to go with the high boost setup.

Regardless, it appears as though I didn't order all the necessary parts. I'd need to wait a couple more days to get another idler pulley cover (3rd photo below). Here are some photos of the failed bearings in the OEM idler pulley. Obviously, the new idler pulley is on the left and the failed part is on the right.

[wheelhaus]

I wouldn't think engine mounts would have any appreciable effect on bearing life for a belt pulley bearing. If that were the case, we'd see way more bearing failures. I understand the logic, I just think its a stretch. From what I've seen, I'd chalk it up to a bad bearing from the factory, or something faulty to do with the initial install finally reared its head after so many miles. Maybe the pulley was dropped and pitted a race, or it didn't have sufficient lube, who knows.

[exE36M3]

Curious. Before the failure... Did you get any funny burning rubber smells? I'm still all stock but see black belt powder around the motor. The smell only happens on hard drives.

Thinking there was a batch of pulleys...

[mit_peid]

Originally Posted by exE36M3

Curious. Before the failure... Did you get any funny burning rubber smells? I'm still all stock but see black belt powder around the motor. The smell only happens on hard drives.

Thinking there was a batch of pulleys...

Not that I've noticed. The indication I got what an irregular sound immediately after my hard down-shift to 3rd from ~60mph and the battery light that came on shortly after that when the alternator stopped charging the battery with the accessory belt coming off. I replaced the bad idler pulley with a new one (along with a new OEM belt) and have been driving on it for a few weeks now without any further issues. I did have to file down a burr that was caused by the bad idler pulley making a groove on the block after it failed -- without it doing so the new idler couldn't spin freely. Hopefully it didn't screw up any tight tolerances from the factory (I doubt it since I barely filed down anything).

[exE36M3]

Thanks mit_peid...

That kind of stinks that those things just let go when they die.
Most pulleys just scream for a while making it obvious that the grease or bearings are done.

I'm following another thread by Neal from EQ Tuning in Fairfield.
His metal idler pulley died just like yours over the weekend. Same symptoms, than boom, side of the road.

I think there's only two of them (idler pulleys right in the middle of the belt configuration). The one that self destructed was the one on the drivers side. Yours too?

- exE36M3

Originally Posted by mit_peid

Not that I've noticed. The indication I got what an irregular sound immediately after my hard down-shift to 3rd from ~60mph and the battery light that came on shortly after that when the alternator stopped charging the battery with the accessory belt coming off. I replaced the bad idler pulley with a new one (along with a new OEM belt) and have been driving on it for a few weeks now without any further issues. I did have to file down a burr that was caused by the bad idler pulley making a groove on the block after it failed -- without it doing so the new idler couldn't spin freely. Hopefully it didn't screw up any tight tolerances from the factory (I doubt it since I barely filed down anything).

[mit_peid]

Yes, there are a total of 3 idler pulleys, one V grooved one by the tensioner and two smooth metal ones closer to the crank. The one that failed on my car was the smooth metal closest to the crank, more on the driver side (although both are technically on the driver side).

Do you have a link to the other thread? I'm interested in reading up on what happened over there.


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[Caspeed]

Originally Posted by mit_peid

Yes, there are a total of 3 idler pulleys, one V grooved one by the tensioner and two smooth metal ones closer to the crank. The one that failed on my car was the smooth metal closest to the crank, more on the driver side (although both are technically on the driver side).

Do you have a link to the other thread? I'm interested in reading up on what happened over there.


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I would recommend replacing all of the idler pulleys and the belts. Note how many miles you clocked after the FI kit was installed and plan to replace them before you get to that many miles again. That almost had to be noisey or misaligned before the total failure. Increase you inspection rate so that you can catch it next time.

The motor mounts have nothing to do with this.

[spatcha88]

Originally Posted by BRGT86

that's the best case for the car... not so good case for the driver if he stopped in that area. LOL.

110/105 interchange area is straight hood. thats where you see all them stupid ass donuts and skid marks on the freeways from their stupid ass "crenshaw takeover" bs.

I can vouch for this. Straight hood near dem parts.