Hey all, just thought I'd let you know I installed the latest and greatest Pineapple Racing idler pulley kit. For those of you with removed air pumps this pulley allows you to retain, and if I'm not mistaken--increase--the belt contact length on your water pump pulley. Idea is that your water pump pulley will not slip at high engine RPM. There is every reason to keep that water pump PUMPING @ high RPM!

Regarding installation, please see attached instructions from Pineapple Racing. One critical thing I will mention, and this is VERY IMPORTANT!!!! Make sure that the spacer (the dome shaped thing that sits inside of the bearing) has the dome part on the side of the pulley that has the Pineapple Racing logos on it (the side that is supposed to face toward the front of the car). This is like the picture I linked to the Pineapple site, NOT LIKE THE PICTURES i ATTACHED. The tapered side of the pulley should face toward the rear of the car NOT THE FRONT. Reason I say this is because the pulley I got shipped to me had the spacer installed BACKWARDS. See attached pics. I realized this pretty quick after I started the car up after intstallation and some rubbing on my water filler neck! It turns out the spacer is very easy to tap out and put on the other side.

Note that when I installed my pulley I checked for free play/interference before I put the belt on, but that was before I fully torqued the bolt that holds the pulley to the bracket. When I fully torqued the bolt down with the belt and all, I couldn't easily check for play since I would have to rotate the entire crank/WP/alt pulley system.

Other than that it is very hard to notice in the engine bay since it sits right underneath the water filler neck. Great product in terms of aesthetics, materials, delivery, and packaging. However, be aware of the spacer being on the correct side of the pulley.

Another thing to note: before I installed the pulley, I had my air pump removed. I could move the water pump pulley very easily by hand. Now, I couldn't try to move it--even with mechanical assistance The extra contact length makes that much of a difference, even if the belt tension remains the same as before. A must have mod for a sans air pump FD that sees high revs often!

 

how much?

 

http://www.pineappleracing.com/index...rodID=146&HS=1

Great item if you don't have your airpump.

 

186.80 USD, shipped to my door

 

how do u like it so far? so with this item... you can just throw your air pump away?

 

Also a warning to single turbo guys, it may not work as the turbo or the filter may be in the way, this is why I had to sell mine..

 

I like it because I have a shiny new part on my car, but I can't see any difference yet When I take the car out to the track I will hopefully see some cooling benefits, since that's the only reason I bought the thing anyway. I'll let you know next time I go out. About the air pump: the whole point of the pulley was to let you get rid of it (if you're single turbo, don't have emssions, want to drop some weight) but still maintain belt contact on the water pump pulley....

 

Would getting the proper 5-ribbed belts Banzai Racing offers have the same effect as using this idler pulley?

 

Drive torque capability increases exponentially with contact angle. A very small contact angle will not allow much torque to be transmitted, no matter what the belt is. So, if I understand your question correctly, the answer is no.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...capstan+effect

https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...7&postcount=19

 

Looks like a solid product.


=Ben

 

I sent an email to pineapple about possible fitting issues with a single turbo. They said you can return it if it doesn't fit. As long as it's not damaged of course.

 

hey Mike, sorry for resurrecting your thread but Im trying to instal my idler kit and I am having issues tightening new pulley down (the long allen head bolt). It threads in a few turns then just completely jams up and dosent budge. I noticed my bolt is different than yours according to your pic. Is your bolt the same one which came wiht your kit or did you use a shoter bolt?

 

I would like to hear about your results with idler pulley and if you noticed any difference in temps.

-Chance

 

check out this thread around Aug 1st to see my temp difference.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/thought-i-had-track-worthy-cooling-setup-but-guess-not-847000/

 

Hey Armen, no prob man about resurrecting the thread, we're all here to help. I used the same bolt that came with the kit, nothing else... you may have to re-tap the hole to restore the threads if your old bolt was perhaps too tight... the surrounding material is pretty soft, it's really easy to strip... do you have pics of your bolt? Curious to see what it looks like. It may have the wrong pitch for the hole as it's threaded. Did you call Pineapple?

 

I actually just spent the whole day drilling and driving around the greater Los Angeles region looking for a new bolt after I snapped another bolt in the housing. The problem wasnt the bolt it was the threads which were stripped or gummed up.

I ended up drilling through the broken bolt and bought a longer one which sticks out the end. I then used a nut to tighten it all down. My bolt was different than yours tho and Ill post a pic of how I installed the pulley along with the bolt. I'm sure the bolt is correct but for anyone else who has problems installing their idler, they can see how I did mine.

 

FYI, I picked up this kit from Rob in person and the reason he told he created it was because of keeping the belt tension the same as the air pump but more importantly, not overtightening the belt thereby putting extra tension on the crankshaft pulley, thereby effecting the eccentric shaft; which could ultimately make it out of balance and screw up your engine.

Hopefully this kit won't cause me any issues while installing my single turbo.

Good luck.

 

Here is what Rob is talking about: https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=810990

 

I just picked up one of these also, for fear of that ^ and running cool when I dyno next week.