Quite a Day.. (long story)

#1 05-17-2003, 08:22 AM

well yesterday was quite a day for me..

after going to bed drunk at 3:30 in the morning, I woke up at 9am yesterday to the sound of my roommate shouting "DUDE! Graduation Rehearsal in half an hour!"

got out of bed, brushed my teeth, got dressed, and ran out to my car where I pulled out what I believed to be a faulty alternator.

went to graduation rehearsal.. it was meaningless. after rehearsal, i drove the alternator 30 minutes to get bench tested, where it passed with flying colors. drove 30 minutes back, pulled my battery and got IT tested.. sure enough it was dead as a doornail. i noticed that it was a walmart-bought battery and whoever had bought it had left the reciepts in a little pouch on the side.. they had been there so long that they had become entirely illegible.

i took the battery to walmart and with a little "social engineering" managed to get a free replacement (take THAT big business!)

installed the new battery and the car cranked right over and ran beautifully. I turned the steering wheel to see if my power steering had returned. it hadn't. i made my roommate come downstairs and turn the wheel while i watched all the belts.. i hadn't heard any squealing, so i had no real reason to suspect slippage..

watching as he spun the wheel, i saw an amazing thing.. the belt that goes over the alternator and PS pump nearly came to a complete stop!!

i watched each pulley and finally saw that the crank pulley was separating and the inside was spinning freely while the outside was slowing down as a load was applied.

called dayle at work, (shameless plug) and he hooked me up with a one-piece aluminum unit for cheap.. should be here on tuesday.. until then i'm stuck without a car, but it should hopefully work out okay..

the chain leading from the crank pulley to my battery and power steering problems is interesting and although it would've been a much easier process if i had just figured out what it was right off the bat, i learned a few things about myself, my car, and the people at the walmart service desk

-adam

immortal_suby · #2 05-18-2003, 07:00 AM

Wow - another crank pulley bites the dust. I'll be keeping an eye on mine. How much did Dayle charge for the new one? How do you plan on removing the old one.

#3 05-18-2003, 07:06 AM

dayle charged my $91 shipped with no belts for my pulley.. i plan to follow the writeups which are floating around on the internet when i install it.. i need to see if i can find a "strap wrench" somewhere though..

-adam

Subafreak · #4 05-18-2003, 08:20 PM

Disable ignition, get lone breaker bar, place against frame, tap key. Viola, one free bolt.

#5 05-19-2003, 11:59 AM

woah.. good suggestion.. that's a little sketchy though.. i don't know if it's a good idea to have 230 foot pounds pushing on that breaker bar though

-a

Subafreak · #6 05-19-2003, 05:02 PM

Trust me I do it all the time. Just make sure it's on the frame and not any wires or hoses. When you put it back on make sure to use a little lock tight and to put a pry bar on one of the tourqe converter bolts so you can tighen the crank bolt, you don't want it to come loose, it could wreak your crank.

Earthworm · #7 05-22-2003, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alacrity024
woah.. good suggestion.. that's a little sketchy though.. i don't know if it's a good idea to have 230 foot pounds pushing on that breaker bar though

-a

Wow...your battery/starter puts out just as much torque as the engine!!