Wazee pulleys...

[Old Goat]

Just to let you know I heard back from Wazee, they got the bar stock in and expect the pulleys to be back in stock in 1 to 2 weeks.

These are the pulleys made from Aluminum that replace the plastic idler pulleys that go bad unexpectedly. (For those of you who had no idea what these were.)

[borysiu]

Hi All,

I just heard my pulley today . I know it will give up soon... I want to replace it with Wazee- found on e8ay in US- nothing in UK. I want to replace the belt and do the short mod as well. The only problem is I cannot find the part in UK and don`t want to pay for shipping from US site for only one thing.
Does anyone of you UK guys have any idea how to source it in UK?
I would really appreciate some help with this one.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I've never heard a good description of the noise, anyone want to give it a shot? I need to do the short belt mod before mine goes south.

[hkayssi]

Thanks Old Goat, I'll be ordering one once they get in stock

[Troll_speed]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I've never heard a good description of the noise, anyone want to give it a shot? I need to do the short belt mod before mine goes south.

You'll know

[Old Goat]

These pulleys seem to go quite fast when they decide to give up the ghost. I have been lucky so far, I check the sucker every week. Nah, not too paranoid.

They are supposed to give off a high squeel prior to going, but some have said that they just heard thumping. Do yourself a favor and check the pulley on a regular basis. Loosen the belt, try spinning the pulley and see if it wiggles a bit side to side. That will be your warning.

I am going to order one of these as soon as they come in. Short belt mod, wazee pulley means I won't have THAT to worry about. (I'm also going to do the tensioner pulley at the same time, that way I know how old they are.)

[hkayssi]

I agree, that would be one less thing to worry about. It's a weak point.

[onewhippedpuppy]

It's something I plan on doing, but it's a few items down the list. I have to have round 2 with that ****** of a selector shaft seal first.

[earthworm]

The pulleys should be tested hot, several times over a 50K miles duration...Its the heat that melts the bearing grease; too much running with minimal lubrication will cause metal fatigue and quick bearing breakdown.

If the pulley feels either warm or cool, it should be good.
If hot, I think I would replace it.

The trouble with all this is ACCESS !.
Maybe a IR heat gun, used in HVAC work , could measure the pulley heat....
The Wazee aluminum will dissipate the heat much better than plastic - possibly the bearings are the same..

[Old Goat]

I wonder also about the integrity of the plastic as well. It seems these look as though they exploded. Granted, if the bearing seized all together then the belt trying to run over a plastic guide (which is all the pulley would be then) it may cause this.

So temperature of the bearing after running is a factor. When bearing are starting to wear they first get loose, that is another means of checking. They usually have friction in turning as well. Loose bearings build heat quickly too. From what I can tell, these are sealed bearings. You can relube sealed bearings, but for this application it really isn't worth it.

[hkayssi]

And the bearing inside it is replaceable and very common and costs next to nothing. Not to mention it won't disintegrate and ruin the belt

[hkayssi]

Originally Posted by Old Goat

I wonder also about the integrity of the plastic as well. It seems these look as though they exploded. Granted, if the bearing seized all together then the belt trying to run over a plastic guide (which is all the pulley would be then) it may cause this.

So temperature of the bearing after running is a factor. When bearing are starting to wear they first get loose, that is another means of checking. They usually have friction in turning as well. Loose bearings build heat quickly too. From what I can tell, these are sealed bearings. You can relube sealed bearings, but for this application it really isn't worth it.

I think the bearing jams while the pulley conitnues to turn from friction by the belt on the pulley. The torque disintegrates the plastic pulley.

[Old Goat]

Absolutely the bearing stops turning, but I have had other cars that happened to, the pulley didn't explode like these do, the belt did. It seems these go quickly once they reach that magic point also. Seems the plastic isn't as tough a material as it should be. Thats all I am saying.

[Old Goat]

Another point... if the plastic doesn't hold up to the heat generated as well as it should it could be throwing off the way it turns, bearing gets looser in the pulley creating more heat till it fails.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Heat + plastic (cheap plastic) is rarely a good combination. Coming from the BMW world, we had the joy of plastic radiator elbows that would crack or plastic engine cooling fans that would grenade. The latter was especially nice, often times it took out the radiator, hoses, water pump, and put dents in the hood from the underside. The failure of the radiator elbow, along with a notoriously inaccurate temp gauge in the E36, led to ruined headgaskets, cracked heads, and the occasional seized block.

Put in perspective, the pulley isn't all that bad.

[hkayssi]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Heat + plastic (cheap plastic) is rarely a good combination. Coming from the BMW world, we had the joy of plastic radiator elbows that would crack or plastic engine cooling fans that would grenade. The latter was especially nice, often times it took out the radiator, hoses, water pump, and put dents in the hood from the underside. The failure of the radiator elbow, along with a notoriously inaccurate temp gauge in the E36, led to ruined headgaskets, cracked heads, and the occasional seized block.

Put in perspective, the pulley isn't all that bad.

I agree every make and model has a few weak points. This one isn't that bad

[Old Goat]

Especially since we have the wazee to replace it with.

[hkayssi]

Yea... Once a problem is identified, it can be adressed and corrected. Look at the sludge accumulator oil pan for example. That adresses the problem of inspecting the oil pan for sludge without having to drop the pan. Not a bad idea

The sway bars and rack brace and frame braces are all fine examples of correcting bad design on the part of the car makers

[Old Goat]

While I agree that the other items were flaws, I think the sway bars and brace are more enhancements. Well, the steering brace maybe a little more than an enhancement, but the car handles OK with out doing those things. Not that there is anything wrong with them... I want, I want.

[hkayssi]

Yea I know what you mean.