Hey guys,

I am having some major issues with my water pump and/or pulley. After some spirited driving today, I heard a terrible grinding noise coming from the engine bay. I got the car home ASAP and immediately popped the hood. The noise was clearly coming from the water pump pulley. I took the pulley off and found that it had been grinding against the motor behind the pulley and there were metal shaving every where. I have the LET 185 crank pulley so my water pump pulley is from them, and I have had them on the car for about 10k miles (car has 26k miles) and have not had any issues. Also, while the pulley was off it looked like the flange that the pulley bolts to was tweaked very slightly but I was not sure. Has this happened to anyone else? Any input/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Danny

 

LET had offered a replacement 19000 rpm water pump pulley bearing that would withstand the higher rpm's the 185 would create. Search on here for that and I just sold the new one I had never used. I don't believe they are available since he special ordered the production run. So you might just be stuck with replacing a stock pulley with stock bearing and keep monitoring as you approach the next 10000 miles. Sorry couldn't offer a better solution.

 

That was an idler pulley bearing.

If the flange is tweaked sounds like it is time for a waterpump.

 

ouch sorry my bad. Too many parts on here that failed has me all confused.

 

Perhaps a bad water pump pulley or even a bad water pump call LET and see if they have a replacement.... I don't think you have enough miles to have a failed water pump - and if you can fix it now - you may not need a replacement pump...

I went back and looked at a picture of your setup - and I would suggest you remove the smaller idler pulley that came with the kit and reinstall the OEM Idler pulley and buy a larger belt. You'll get better wrap and better tension.

 

It sounds like you caught your water pump pulley just before it had a catistrophic failure and went flying around in you engine bay.... there have been a few of those reported, but not in a while....

Is your pulley still good and only needs a new bearing? If you need a new pulley you will have to contact EuroCharged....... I believe they are still selling the 178 and 185 pulley kits....

 

This may be ignorance, but how do you get to the bearing on the water pump? The Pulley itself does not have a bearing, it is pretty much just a round plate.

I sent Eurocharged an email, so we will see what they say.

Does anyone know how difficult it is to replace the water pump?

 

Hope the PDF file helps.... Just remember - you have to remove the outer hub of the 185mm crank pulley to gain access all the water pump bolts - no need to remove the inner hub or crank bolt....

 

ouch, sorry to hear about the issue, first see if you can get this covered under warranty. if you don't have any luck i imagine you will need these...

Water Pump
and
ASP WaterPump Pulley

and at that point i'd surely recommend this to go with it
Pulley Saver Kit Waldig/NeedsWings

 

Thanks for the info! It does not look too difficult. Would it not just be easier to remove the entire crank pulley?

 

I am hoping that at least the pulley will be covered. If not, you guys may be hearing from me! The pulley saver seems like a good plan either way.

 

No - just the outter hub on the 185 - much easier to remove and replace...

can you detail the damage to the water pump housing (not the WP pulley or Idler pulley) - perhaps you dont need a water pump...

Can you post pictures?

 

I will try to get some pictures tonight. I tried this morning but I put everything back together, so you cannot see any damage. The housing itself looks to be intact.

 

Sorry, I had a brain fart...... no bearing on the WP pulley....

Make that two brain farts.... I forgot that Rob would have a WP pulley with the pulley saver kit.....

 

danny i have the needswings c3 pulley saver kit and it worth twice the amount for the peace of mind!! high quality and worth every penny

i think e/c is toast in chicago try jerry in houston. you can find him on facebook

 

Ok am I missing soemthing?
Pulley savers kits do nothting to the wp pulley.

Saver kit is basically:
Bracket
Tensioner pulley
Idler pulley
Repositioned pulley

 

you are correct. but what it does is replace the crappy prone to fail idlers with better bigger pulleys to slow the rotation down and ensure long life. for me i replaced 3 idler pulleys in less tahn a yr. since the psk went on zero issues! its cheap ins. while he has everything aprt to replace the wp

 

Gotcha. I completly agree.
I have the saver kit as well and would not be without it.

 

Glad you guys enjoy the Needswings pulley saver design. I got into it when I had a pulley die and hit the water pump breaking the housing. I welded it but it still failed in a month.

About 2 years ago I repaired my waterpump and got it from Rob back then before he started to produce my projects. He got it to me for a better price than I had access to otherwise.

THe SRT and limited do not share the water pump or thermostat housings. Be sure you get what you want.'

THe water pump housing is held in with a MESS of bolts and they are different sizes and length. Mark them and color code them to keep track. Use a mirror, several are not visible with the fan unit removed. Its a bit of a deal and takes from 1 - 3 hours depending on your skill level and tool supply cabinet. Take your time and check check check to install it flat and even, you can pinch a gasket (rubber) or worse crack the housing which is large.

Not to disagree with Dr. B. Brave, but I can not remember pulling any of the crank pulley off. But Iam old and memory is the first thing ...............something!!!

You have to do is drain the antifreeze, pull the fan, pull the belt, Remove the stat, pull the water pump pulley and such. Take your time and its not too bad...........

Enjoy, Woody

Hint: Remove the bolts and install them into the new housing to locate them and dont spill it.

Remove the old housing, and then install the bolts in the old one. One at a time, nice nice.

Install the new housing and the bolts are layed out for you. Dont get cocky and use a mirror to see the hard ones.

DOnt do this and die!

Oh you should know this ---------install all the bolts before torquing the bolts down. YOur doing work on an ALUMDAMMITINUM housing and motor/ break a bolt and your in need of a good friend to help...

 

So I took the pulley off again and it is definitely out of round. I still cannot tell if the flange on the water pump is tweaked or not. I am thinking about replacing the water pump pulley and adding the pulley saver kit and seeing what happens. What do you guys think? I attached a few pictures, so you can see the flat spot on the pulley.