exploding pulleys

[madkaw]

Has anyone heard or experienced a crank pulley coming apart? The rubber between the damper and pulleys is deteriorated but it is hard for me to believe it would come apart. Actually, before this was pointed out to me, I didn't really realize these were two different parts bonded together. Maybe I'm paranoid but I need some feedback on this. I would buy a new euro pulley from msa but I want to try and keep ac.

[Bambikiller240]

I haven't experienced it myself, but I have heard of other people who have experienced it. When it happens, your radiator is instant TOAST. I don't mean just it's damaged, I mean it's DESTROYED.

Other components up front can be damaged as well. (Alt, Water Pump, etc) It all depends on the trajectory of the pieces as it comes apart.

Quoting Dirty Harry, "Do you feel lucky?

[madkaw]

I guess the only remedy is to replace. This may sound stupid but could you weld it into one piece or would the lack of flex be to hard on the crank key.

[Bambikiller240]

BTW, Look in the Tech Articles forum for a thread called "Used Z Parts Sellers" (or something like that) You might want to search for a used stock pulley.

[Bambikiller240]

I guess the only remedy is to replace. This may sound stupid but could you weld it into one piece or would the lack of flex be to hard on the crank key.

I don't know if welding would bother the keyway and Woodruff keys, but I would think that it would play hell with the balance of the unit.

[Phred]

Harmonic Damper, Balancer, Pulley, Vibration dampener, Etc...

Please do not even consider welding the outer damper to the inner. If you did, it would just be a pulley, not a "Torsional Vibration Damper" the accurate definition of this device. The L-6 crank is prone to some bad torsional vibrations, and the damper helps absorb these "harmonics". If the outer ring becomes unbonded with the center, the device won't work, it will usually just slip. But left unnoticed, the outer ring can come adrift, and cause some kind of mayhem. Since the timing marks are on the outer ring, if it starts to slip, the marks become invalid. A good visual trick to determin if you have a slipping outer ring : paint a line on the front of the damper from your TDC mark on the outer ring, across the rubber to the center portion of the damper. Then, anytime, at a glance you can see if the line has shifted between the two, indicating a loose damper.

Phred

[Bambikiller240]

Good info and advice, Phred. Thanks!

[madkaw]

thanks for all the advice, I'm in search for a good pulley I guess....

[Fentin_Fury]

I had my harmonic balancer disingrate as well this year. I am also know of two others that failed on the race track this year. This can be very BAD! In one case the keyway was destroyed and the oil pump gear did not turn - new engine.

I invested in the Nissan racing HB - not inexpensive - but a must if you are turning big RPMs (more than 6000). Don't skimp here.

[texasz]

I had my harmonic balancer disingrate as well this year. I am also know of two others that failed on the race track this year. This can be very BAD! In one case the keyway was destroyed and the oil pump gear did not turn - new engine.

I invested in the Nissan racing HB - not inexpensive - but a must if you are turning big RPMs (more than 6000). Don't skimp here.

Where'd you find it and how much are we talking about...roughly?

[Fentin_Fury]

You can get the Euro damper through motorsport http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=PEM06 and I know that this is a good peice. If you are turning big RPMs however you should consider the Nissan race damper through your local dealer - I will look up the part number when I get home.

[sblake01]

The Nissan Motorsport parts catalog lists the L-SERIES RACE DAMPER as part # 99996-E1060E and the Z EURO DAMPER as 12303-E4100. There is also a third option listed-The Nismo Pulley Set.