tweakit idler bearing failure
 

The bearing that came with the tweakit idler pulley lasted a whole 160 miles. I installed the idler kit and drove from SF to Thunderhill. My car died right when I got to Thunderhill raceway. Car started but made a noise like the belts were loose then followed by a ton of smoke. The bearing that comes with the kit had completely frozen up. I bought the kit a few years ago. I am not blaming the idler kit but just letting people know of the bearing failure. For some strange reason I brought along my old ebay/greddy pulley kit and belt and was able to install it onto my car and enjoy the track day. I guess I am psychic or paranoid.

Does anyone know a replacement for the bearing that is a better quality? I have not heard anyone having this problem but I rather use a better bearing if possible. The greddy pulley kit did not show any signs of slipping and the water temps were in the about 93C, it was a cool day.

And again I am not blaming the person that made kit but just informing people of the bearing failure. And if anyone wants to know I installed it according to the instructions. I even ordered the wrong belt since the instructions were wrong.

I'll post pics tomorrow.

Wow 160 miles? That sucks. Just glad it didnt cause any major damage.

I had the bearings spin out of one of the idler pulleys. sent them pictures and had a new one sent. works perfectly fine now

How long ago was that, I cant seem to get in contact with him. Its been so long since I bought it I dont expect a warranty. I just dont want it to happen again. I was not even mad when I realize that I had replacement parts, I'm just glad I was not stuck on the side of the road in the middle of the night. I will never install new parts right before a track day ever again.

you have to realize that these kits probably don't use a pulley specifically made for the kits, it is probably an aftermarket OEM quality pulley (equivelent to a part you can buy at Autozone, Etc.) which happens to fit the required diameter and width. So that being said Aftermarket quality parts aren't up to the highest standards. This isn't coming from specific experience with the kits. but experience in general as a mechanic.

The pulley is custom machined aluminum and the bearing inside failed. But I wish the pulley was from "some" car. Then I could just order a replacement pulley. If the custom pulley ever got damaged the kit would be useless.

You should be able to press out the bearing and bring it to a bearing shop and they can match it up with something, or get a set of calipers and measure it then just order one.


Is this the single turbo version or the twin turbo version?




John

It's the single turbo version. There was a number on the bearing dust cover but it melted off. Can anyone read the part number off their bearing?

My bearing went out in the first six months but Tweakit replaced it right away in time for DGRR 2010. Been fine ever since

That's really odd that yours failed. I've driven several thousand miles on mine and it's working like a champ.

Next time I'm at my car (currently getting rebuilt) I'll see if I can't pull a part number off it.

Post some hi-res pics of the bearing itself. We'll be looking particularly at the markings on the shoulder of the outer race. Hopefully it's a commercial bearing and we'll be able to figure out what to replace it with.

If you're bored, mail the whole bearing to me and I'll get it cut in half and do a failure analysis.

probably has the manufacturer stamp and part number on it somewhere but you will probably have to press it out to find it. take it to a bearing shop and they can cross reference it.

How long ago did you buy the kit. I know tweakit had trouble with their first batch of bearings (they didn't live up to the manufacturers spec) and since then they have changed for a different type of bearing.

My one lasted less than 100 miles, but they replaced it for me free of charge (I think) two years later - yes it took me that long to get around to installing it.

quality control?

Had several fail on me, even after being fixed by them. Decided to replace it myself.. No issues now...

It happens, even new cars get recalled all the time...

Oh no! I've got their first batch of idler pulley for single turbo. However I still havent gotten to install them on the engine yet since my whole car is undergoing a full rebuild/single conversion. I hope mine will last T___T.

-AzEKnightz


What did you replace the bearing with? You've got a part time to share with the rest of us? Thanks!

-AzEKnightz

Buying good bearings is not always easy. Distributors often buy from each other, in a way that does not guarantee the parts came direct from the factory, and that's how counterfeit bearings get into regular distribution. So even if you buy brand name bearings you can still get bitten.

Of course if the bearings are just plain junk then I guess that's another matter. Our horse trailer was rolling on crap bearings from Romania. Timken now.

Had mine for a while, no issues at all.

Yep, no issues with mine (knock on wood) and I've had mine for many years and miles now.

REALLY wish they were still made, it's a good product for a fair price. Anyone know what happened to him? Did he just get sick of it, move on, what?

At least Pineapple still has their idler pullies.

Dale

I took the pulley off and took some pics but its hard to see the inside of the bearing. The front rubber seal is completely melted and turned into a ball. The seal on the back was intact and had two sets of numbers 6002D and 0352.

It looks like the cage broke and the cage got stuck between the ball bearings. Maybe my bearing did not come with any grease, I guess we will never know. I would suggest people to check their bearings and replace them before they break.

Since the greddy pulley kit worked without any problems for track use I might just keep it on the car and change the belt more often. At least the pulley kit wont leave me stranded.

with the number "6002D" and the bearing in hand, every bearing shop will know what you will need!

Maybe ask if a bearing with a larger air-gap will have benefits in your application (this bearings have bigger gaps to run in higher temp enviroments, I've used this to reengineer a shitty build rx8 compressor kit from australia ... (12000USD kit, failed because of low quality 20$ bearings and a shitty made shaft... 0.o ) worked like a charm... SKF rulez! ;)

Is there any kind of spacer between the bearings middle races? When you tighten the pulley bolt, does it apply pressure to the bearing balls?

David

No spacer but the nut only tightens the middle race it does not compress the actual bearing balls.

Word....
Working on casting a bracket and pulley but not sure where to get a 10k rpm bearing.

As a result of seeing this thread I decided to inspect a kit that a customer installed before bringing his car down for an engine rebuild. Noticed immediately that the bearing is installed uneven causing a massive pulley wobble. This bearing will no doubt fail in a very short time. Not allowing it to stay installed, this customer lives a couple hundred miles away and I can't have it failing as he is driving home with his new rebuilt engine.

http://youtu.be/usZ6HROFuG0

Here is a bit of information most don't really know about bearings
Reference the SKF bearing design manual.

This Peticular bearing as well as the alternator bearings spin at higher rates than a typical commercial off the shelf unit. Consequently, the lubrication in the sealed assembly is specialized and is a unique digit in the part number. This is one of the reasons it is hard to match the OEM unit.

So matching the number may not be the correct solution.

Down load the Timken or SKF manuals and select from there.

Thought i posted over here too... oh well

http://*************.com/rotary_foru...ead.php?t=7674

rotary car club.com/rotary_forum/showthread.php?t=7674 < -------put in search with spaces removed from the first 3 words, stupid forum rivalry

The bearing they were using in the first runs was underated from the manufacture not their fault. The new one was rated correctly but i still had 3 failures before i just pulled it off. I keep looking for a replacment or even send it off to be remachined for a new bearing but i havent driven the car enough to worry about it as of late.

z

You would think the seller would notify the people that bought it about the probility of failure. I had no signs of anything wrong, the bearing just froze and the car died.

he did, maybe he missed a few but he deffinatly did.

z

my first tweakit pulley bearing was installed wonky and the wheel wobbled just like the one in banzai-racing video, but sent it back and got a replacement that was absolutely fine. Have done 8000 miles on it and it is still fine. However, bought a replacement aircon tensioner pulley from another manufacturer last year that lasted only an hour before the bearing blew apart, shredding the belt as the wheel seized. The replacement unit had a very over-specced bearing in it, and has been fine since. So cheap bearings are a bit of a liability IMHO!

DM motorsport in the UK are also making an idler pulley for the FD similar to the tweakit / pineapple one.

http://www.dm-motorsport.co.uk/bille...ulley-33-c.asp

I had the same issue with my kit. TWICE.. Did get it replaced free both times and great customer service was helpful.. But i gave up and gave mine away.

Got stranded one good time and had to get towed home and was like poo. never do that again..

I believe you have one of the orignal pully kits and as mentioned there was a problem with the bearing manufacturer. We sent an email out to everyone who had the kit to send the pulley back for a replacement but yours must have been missed.

Send me your address and I will send you out a new pulley.

Thanks,
Dan

Thanks Dan for the great customer service, I pm you my address.

man, lucky i never got that that kit when i could.. id love to get the pine apple racing one but man pretty expensive. water temps stay pretty good tho and i know i have some slippage 83c-85c/ 86c-87c MAX

Ive never had any over heating issues but after reading one of howard colemans? Posts on overtightrning the belts leading to stationary gear bearing failure ( mine was bad on rebuild) Im looking into making or buying one.

Thanks for info. I got one of these a couple years ago and have not had any problems to date. I believe I got the newer run. For those of you interested in the pineapple kit it will NOT work with most single turbo kits and larger framed turbos as the compressor housing interferes with the pulley bracket position. I had to return mine to Pineapple. Both are of high quality. G

While re-assembling my engine I noticed the same wobble issue as Banzai posted above, hopefully I can get a hold of these guys to get a replacement. Great concept, just a few problems that may have been out of their control.

In my opinion, it is just a poorly designed pulley. If there were a machined lip for the bearing to press up against it would ensure a straight installation. The Pineapple parts uses a snap ring to accomplish the task.

I take back the great customer comment. I did not get the pulley, Dan does not respond to pm. I'm just going to stick with the underdrive pulley, at least it wont leave me stranded. Belts are cheap but a two from two hours away is not.

Yup I have since picked up the pineapple idler pulley. Had I know about it before I probably would have purchased from pineapple instead... I guess live and learn. I have tried to contact tweakit with no response.

-Dan

I had my Tweakit pulley on for a few years, I think it was anyway, I don't remember exactly when I put it on but I know it has been a while. It finally failed on me last night. On a fun drive through the mountains, about 1.5 hours from home and 45 minutes from any civilization, I hear a weird noise and my idiot lights come on. I thought I broke the belt or something because I'd had problems before with it slipping off (I had a spacer on the alt pulley and pushed it out too far) but I fixed that before. I got to a stop and found this...
Attachment 680199

The pulley popped off completely and apparently almost hit my buddy behind me while it was bouncing down the road. I left the car and he drove me to the nearest town 23 miles away, got a 3 rib belt that just barely worked but I got it home.
Attachment 680200

^^^^

Same thing happened to me on track last year, causing a stoppage (and near accident, as overheating/flowing coolant got sprayed on my rear tire. I couldn't directly correlate it, but my motor/turbos failed the next day after I replaced the belt to bypass the pulley to finish the event.

Yep :(

I don't think either us will forget that weekend. Once again though that was a badass save :icon_tup:

I received a pulley years ago and didn't like the design so I returned it.

Bottom line: keep it simple, use the stock under drive, a good belt and don't over tighten it and you won't have any problems. With a good cooling setup the stock water pump is also fine.

If it's not broken don't fix and this is especially true if the fix includes additional system/parts that can fail.

Mine never failed, but i barely drove it since installing it. I upgraded to a ceramic bearing, so hopefully won't have any problems.

Luckily I noticed it in time. My temps got up to about 196F but I let the car sit at that point.

You wouldn't happen to still have that bearing p/n would you? Mine isn't broken yet, but it does feel a bit rough... I'd rather replace it now, rather than wait and have it break on me.

Yeah. I just have to dig through my email. Was only like $30 bucks, so not crazy expensive.

Go to Boca Bearing .com and order this part:
SMR6002C-YUU NB2

I have had my bearing fail twice already... The major issue now is that the center of the pulley has become a bit larger due to the wobble of the bearing. I haven't been able to get a hold of Tweakit so I took the setup to a machine shop I use to come up with a solution.

I am probably going to stay without it as it has become a pain in the ass...

FYI... I have an underdrive main pulley and alternator pulley. I found a 280K5 belt that fits and is 5 rib..... Most autoparts I called only carry 4 rib belts and it just bothers me that it wasn't the correct amount of ribs.....hope the belt size helps others...

You can order pretty much any belt size (in increments of half inches) in either 4, 5, 6 rib variations. Gates and Goodyear gator backs are my favorite.