With all the different issues popping up; how many versions of the Code3 pulley are out there now?

And for new members who are interested, how can you tell them apart?

 

I believe there are at least 3 versions of the smaller Supercharger pulley. This is not counting his new Mid Size pulley that would be used WITH a 178 crank pulley.

Gen 1 is made of steel and has the cut grooves unlike the stock pulley. (I have this one, no issues…..10K miles so far)
Gen 2 is made of steel and had no cuts in the grooves…looks just like stock.
Gen 3 is made of anodized aluminum and has no cuts in the grooves. Looks similar to stock, but different metallic color and is lighter.

I believe they have gone back to the design and manufacture of the Gen 1 pulley……SMART MOVE!

 

I'm not sure there's an easy answer to this.

The initial production run had breaks in the splines between the groves on the pulley and looked like this:


Those breaks were supposed to give better grip on the belt, but ended up either chewing up the belt or giving less grip - I can't remember which now. Also the initial run was aluminum. Later they were switched to steel as there were some manufacturing problems with the aluminum pulleys.

The later pulleys look like this:


Of the later pulleys, there are two sizes: the original and the mid-sized. The original was designed to closely match the performance of the 178mm crank pulley, but it turns out to be a little less performance. The mid-sized pulley is sized a little larger than the original, so that it can safely be combined with a 178mm crank pulley and not overdrive the supercharger beyond design specs.

The stock supercharger pulley is 74mm.
The original Code3 SC pulley is 65mm.
The mid-sized Code3 SC pulley is 69mm.

Visually it is difficult to tell the difference between the mid-sized and original Code3 pulleys.

 

As BLKFIN mentions above, there was a switch from steel back to aluminum at one point. But I saw a post from Brandon recently indicating they were not going to use aluminum anymore as there were too many manufacturing inconsistencies and he was getting an unacceptable percentage of unusable pulleys in his production numbers.

 

Gen 1 and 2 were all steel. The last Gen was aluminum. There where some concerns that the cut grooves would eat through belts, but I think most issues were installer error. I do believe that is why he is going back to this. As I mentioned, I have one of the pulleys from the first batch made and have had ZERO issues. No belt slip, upwards of 19lbs of boost in the cold and have 10K miles on the pulley and the original stock belt.

 

I bought a Craftsmen torx set from Sears, they had it on sale for $20 for a 7pc set. Also if I recall correctly the E11 was a typo, it's actually an E10 or E12.

Brian

 

Hi man. i am totaly confused with all information i read here not on my main language, i want you to help me to tune my C32 amg, notice, that in my country i do not have such good petrol as in the USA, the our best is 91 octan and of cause not that quality like your, so i was told that there is no point to chip ecu. Now i want to do, no ECU chip needed, mechanical tuning. all i know it is that my g-timer from canada show me 5.07-5.3 for 0-100 км per h/. . and 1/4 mile for 13.35c, my car runs good and i feel that it does. all tune i have on it is KN filters in the stock places. and now i want to get code 3 C32 Intercooler Reservoir , Code Three Performance Belt Wrap Kit, and Performance Supercharger Pulley . but i am kindly scared of all your write here about, what your saggest?

 

Get a pulley. Either a 178 or 184mm pulley. Great gains to be had. Also look into an intake. Check out www.needswings.com or www.eurocharged.com

 

I asked Brandon last week if the pulley he sent me was old.
He said it was a new pulley, so it sounds like he is going back to the first design?

The new one I was just sent last week on the left, the one I was sent last November on the right.
The one on the right was AL.

1-3.jpg

 

That's your new pulley on the left? It sure looks like a used pulley. Perhaps a customer return?

I can see belt debris building up in the groove (that's going to cause some slipping as time goes on - not to mention what it's doing to the belt) and the black backing plate sure is scratched up like it's been thru a few RPM's.......

 

Those were my thoughts exactly. Yes I sprayed it with brake cleaner and whiped it down before use. The back was freshly machined, but my first thought is it was a used piece.

I dunno, Brandon said it was new when I asked him about it, so thats all I have to go on.

Really I dont care, as long as it works.

 

I just ordered a code3 pulley and belt wrap kit. We will see how it works...

 

I don't race mine as much as I would like, but as Tom will assure when I do, I go all out. I haven't had any issues with my pulley so far...this first one that I recieved did rub, and was immediately replaced, no hassles at all...as for the other mods he sells, and others sell, they are racing mods, for the most part unproven, not tested for very long. So gentleman, its racing, its experimenting, those mods won't always work, nor will they always hold up until a lot testing miles are put on them. Rob has the right idea, test, test , test before you market, but many of you pressured him to get the manis out, and now there has been supposed problems with them...so, think before you jump...I watch and listen on here and wait for many of you chance takers to run the h@ll out them for awhile before I buy... just my observation

 

240: you mean to tell me you didn't have a pulley before?!?

 

He was one of the first 185 owners. Check out the 30+ page thread he has documenting all the successes and frustrations with his car.

 

He threw me off the scent with this talk of a Code3 pulley.

 

I would like to think that the performance of BDJ's and My Code 3 pulley cars made him a believer in "Less can be more"!

 

I installed my aluminum Code3 pulley this morning. Before the install I measured everything I could think of on the new pulley and it seemed to be ok. A little difference in the side to side depth measurement to the bearing from the back friction surface but not much. Anyway, the stock pulley had a 360º clearance to the clutch of .45mm. Yes, that much, and it had 2 shims. The code3 has a clearance of .40mm and at 180º .20mm. I had a plastic hammer and made sure to seat it all the way on and torqued the bolt to 20nm. Having read all the information on the forum that I could find on the problems with the Code3 I feel it will wear in without a problem. I guess time will tell but so far all seems good to go. No strange noises. Runs just like stock. Today is a big beach day (yeah, live on the beach) so lots of traffic and traffic police. I did take the car out to see how it felt and it feels good. With traction control off, the light was blinking at 50mph when I glanced at the instrument cluster. (good indication of too much power for the tires) If the weather permits I'll be heading to the track on Wednesday or Thursday to get a better indication of the gains from the pulley. Its hard to judge a power increase by feel, so lets wait for the numbers from the track. To date my best time is 13.072 with a needswings intake. And traction was a problem then.

I would have pictures but when I got to the step of taking off the supercharger pulley and couldnt get it loose, I decided not to be stupid. You have to put too much side pressure on the clutch using the method in the instructions IMO. So I packed up the tools to head to the tool department at Sears and shut the hood right on the camera. Now it wont come on. Oh well. The dang tool was $24.95 at Sears which I know is a lot but its cheaper than putting too much side load on the supercharger shaft. Impatience kills, your life and wallet too.
After a few more miles I'll remeasure the pulley to clutch clearance to see if it "wears to flush".

Les

 

I was running the 185. Even when the car wasnt having lean issues i would race bdjs car and only be able to pull him less than a car length, and at the end he would actually catch back up. His car has a lighter exhaust and battery but still...for the lean issue that was never fully solved id rather be just a bit slower but a lot safer. Besides, i have some mods on the way that should take care of a few psi less boost.

 

Good to know, I forgot to measure my stock pulley, but the 2nd C3 pulley I was sent had about 42 gap with the stock single shim in place.