[dcarrb]

(old thread revival)

I noticed late Sunday that my car’s crank pulley had suddenly developed an alarming wobble (this just a couple of weeks after I replaced both accessory drive belts), and that the semi-elastic material between the core and outer ring was cracked and protruding. Of course, it’s not actually wobbling; it’s just no longer turning true. After contacting several outlets for a replacement, questions now arise:

1) What’s with the disparity in Subaru parts pricing? My local parts guy at a national (aftermarket) chain, who recently saved me roughly 25% on the cost of an ECU coolant temp sensor and asked me to run any OEM part number by him before looking elsewhere, came in at $184, with no shipping charges unless I wanted the pulley before Friday. (I do.) A Subaru dealership on Atlanta’s northern fringe quoted $194, out the door. Three on-line OEM sources were in the $140 range, plus shipping. NOBODY had one in hand, which leads me to my next question (directed to Subaru of America):

2) Why can’t Subaru distribution centers drop-ship parts directly to those of us (and I’m sure there are many) who have no dealership nearby? I’d conduct business by phone or on-line with the dealership of my choice — be it in Atlanta or Anchorage — and pay their price, then they’d have the part shipped directly to me from the nearest warehouse that has the thing on the shelf. Simple. It's absurd to have to wait a couple of days while the part you need makes its way over some dealer's threshhold before even heading your way.

3) Should I have ordered an Impreza or Legacy pulley instead? (One helpful fellow explained why few dealers would stock an SVX crank pulley.) It’s a safe bet that there are a few of those around. If they’re identical to that on the SVX, why doesn’t the SVX part number ring-up multiple applications?

4) Why is the crank pulley made this way, and what is it about the SVX that kills ‘em? I’ve managed to coax a couple of Subarus to 200,000 miles and beyond, and this is my first pulley failure. Clearly, this car is a different story. My uneducated guess is that the flexible layer is intended to isolate the crank from vibrations induced by the belt-driven accessories, but given healthy accessories and properly-tensioned belts, how much vibration can there be? (It seemed noteworthy that the subaruparts.com diagram did not refer to the pulley as a harmonic balancer.) And naturally it follows...

5) What are the possible long-term consequences of running the one-piece, OEM-sized unit I ordered from Motorsports Warehouse? (Who, BTW, had ‘em in stock, agreed to ship overnight and still beat the high-end prices above.) Main seal failure? An oil pump that routinely shakes itself to pieces? A dreadful noise followed by the sight in the rearview mirror of liberated engine internals bouncing down the freeway? (Yeah, I doubt that, too.) The absence of negative reports here is encouraging and I’m not truly concerned, but still, I figure the engineers who designed this machine are considerably brighter than this writer, hence my prevailing attitude that few aftermarket mods are actual improvements over the original.

In the end, it seems every SVX owner might do well to put stock crank pulley replacement on his or her list of preventive maintenance duties to be performed at the 120,000 mile mark.

dcb

Edit: The new pulley was on my desk when I returned from lunch today. Looks good. (Thanks, guys.)