ONE BMF

Having pulley problems -alignment is great -its eating manual tensioner pulley bearings --i need pics of your adjusting bolt position and approx how far your belt is spread at the head unit First to go was the original manual tensioner pulley(approx 10,000 miles on it) 3 weeks ago 1 week after that the spring tensioner pulley self destructs Last night the 2 week new manual tensioner pulley self destructs- Also notice the difference in the design of these MT pulleys look at the grooves!!!!! Have another bearing Chris at ECS sent me when my first one went 3 weeks ago installed it then but took it out when it made alot of what i believed to be unnatural noises-- --well i put that 1 in today and guess what --it is a bad bearing --i had thought that this bearing might be good afterall that it was the spring tensioner pulley that was failing also at the time and telegraphing it noises to what was a brand new bearing possibly-wrong the bear is making noise plus it felt gritty when turned with fingers --- these bearings are very quiet when good-- --will be calling Chris tomm for new bearings --anyone else having these bearings fail prematurely--heres a pic of my adjustment now --bolt squared up with the "S" on the bracket-- have about 1-1/4 inches between belt at head unit--Thanks in advance for your help guys

chriswtx

Mine went bad on me as well..It was only 2 months old and had 200 miles on it..Hopefully ECS will come across a better replacement idler in the near future. You can buy the large idlers locally at NAPA for $30. They can usually have them the next day. Part number is VKM51001. Doug told me he likes to adjust the manual tensioner until the sprung tensioner is at midway of its travel. So the last time I had the sprung tensioner off, I marked on the sprung tensioner its travel in a place where I could see it with it on the car to help the ease of adjustments..... My head unit idler position has the belt about 1" form each other. But I have the 8rib setup..I just upgraded to the steel spring tensioner pulley on Friday. Hope it holds together..

ONE BMF

Thanks Chris-- it seems to me if i load the spring tensioner to halfway between its throw that would put the manual tensioner at about its uppermost point (i see a 1/4" gap at the spring tensioner stop now as adjusted) how close is the belt to itself at the manual idler on yours

chriswtx

Mines About 1" Away From Touching Itself. The sprung tensioner had
about 1" of travel at its base when I marked it..

ONE BMF

I also put in the new steel sprung tensioner last week --can you tell me --if you look straight down to the top of this unit --looking at the top of it how much space is there to the stop knuckle i'm showing about a 1/4 inch if that PS thanks for that part # i see alot of these in the future !!!!!!!!!

ONE BMF

My new one lasted less than 100 milesI thought i might be running my belt too tight but with this feedback maybe not --i suspect a bad batch of idlers have hit the market

chriswtx

Mines about 3/8" away from the stop...just a little more than a 1/4"

chriswtx

well at the time I replaced the head unit idler with the one I got from ECS, I replaced the Power steering idler with one I bought from NAPA. When the head unit idler failed I checked the Power steering idler and it still felt new..Plus the NAPA ones come with a 1 year warranty. Just keep your recipt.. The Power steering idler does use a larger bolt and you have to open up the idler bolt hole just a hair. I used a porting sanding roll on my die grinder to open it up.. They bolt right on to the head unit idler mount without any need to change the bolt hole size..

ONE BMF

will an over tight belt eat one of these bearings in 50-100 miles

chriswtx

maybe, but it would have to be awful tight I would think..

ONE BMF

Been in garage adjusting up n down --if i bring the manual tensioner all the way up in its slot (in main bracket) i barely get the 3/8 inch that puts the sprung tensioner in the middle of its throw (you are right bro -i checked my old srung unit and its slot at full closed is 3/4 inch half of which is 3/8 --great tip bro)and that puts my belt at 1/2 " apart at head unit and belt is tighter than **** PS all adjusting and tweaking and that new bearing (the suspect one is definitely singing to beat all hell i give it 5 miles till --thanks to you i will be visiting NAPA tomm for a speedy fix One more thought if the sprung tensioner is not tight enough to pull it too the middle of its throw (as recommended by ECS) then the belt can't be tighter than recommended --sounds logical since the more tension you put on that steel spring the more it will resist

chriswtx

Big PITA.. I've been outside shimming my valve springs to get more seat pressure...Car doesn't want to rev past 5500rpm or so.. So I'm shimming my comp 921 springs .060" to take the seat pressure from 135lb to 155lb.. Hope it cures my problem...Another big PITA...I'm almost ready to switch to the TTiX turbos

ONE BMF

Was thinking of installing 918's on mine but first things first--hope you slay your gremlins bro

chriswtx

I wouldn't bother with 918s, go strait for some good duals. The patriot gold are onlu $255 and they come with new valve seals.. Just went for a test drive.. 18psi of boost..I think I need to change my shorts Crazy fast...

ONE BMF

Thanks for the heads up --sounds like you got over 5500rpms

chriswtx

6400rpm and I ran out of road..

ONE BMF

so you solved the problem-- what was it

chriswtx

Still not sure what the problem was. I think it was valve float, not spark related. But I didn't test them 1 at a time. I did all the changes all at once. Shimed the springs to roughly 155lbs on the seat, changed my spark dwell time and new plug wires..Pulls clean(except for a little wheel spin) to 6400rpm

chriswtx

Moving on to the next problem... Blew off my blow off valve..

ONE BMF

saw the hood in your profile what is it & where can i get 1