Originally Posted by mjgroves
So I guess the bottom line is if you want to swap out your pulley often, make sure to maintain it well. If you want to keep the aftermarket pulley on there forever, dont worry about it.
not quite. its not the pulley but the bearing it rotates on that goes bad. could happen to either. once it starts to fail replacement is mandatory. so inspecting for seepage or listening for any grinding will help you find the failure sooner hopefully making it easier to remove.
i know your considering the c3 so let me warn you in advance. the bolt that holds the pulley on is hollow. it WILL break if more than 14 ft/lbs. (20 nm) of torque is applied. there is no replacement for just the bolt. it requires a whole pulley replacement which costs 1000$!!!!!! so be careful with the bolt! those that broke the bolt have replaced it with a solid grade 8 bolt. but its hollow for a reason. what that reason is is still unclear to most