Pineapple Racing Idler pulley Failure
 

My Pineapple Racing idler pulley failed after 4,000 miles, looks like they used a cheap set of bearings that where rated for half the rpm than what is needed with a 8,000rpm redline. The bearings completely locked up and left me stranded today, tried to reach them multiple times through out the day with no answer on there end.

Attachment 623708

how tight was the belt?

Exactly. We have installed over 100 of these kits without issue and sold hundreds more.

Pineapple will replace it as there is a lifetime warranty on the idler kit.

Sometimes bad parts make it through QC. If your first thought is belt tightness on what appears to be a double bearing idler... well... I'm very skeptical of that conclusion (why didn't the wp or alt go then?). My first thought was insufficient lube from the factory; something happening more and more as costs/corners are cut.

I doubt this thread would have been posted if someone would have picked up the phone.

Yep, belt tension was fine and had .4" of defection on a new belt which should be lower than stock. On the first test drive, (15 to 20 full boost 8,000 rpm pulls) I noticed grease all over my turbo and figured it was just excess get pushed out. When I pulled these off after failure they had zero grease in them. In the time that it failed it had done around 3,000 red line pulls and a good number of them where sustained at rev limit during drifting and autocross. Booth bearings have failed, this is not a bearing problem it is a seal problem.

Yep

It's the high rpm

Drive these idlers hard and they fall apart. Fortunately it didn't happen while you were at the track etc.....

If I was you I'd get your new one from Pineapple and promptly sell it to someone who likes adding things to their car for cough cough reliability reasons LOL

Don't use them and don't recommend them. There is plenty of tension with a stock under drive. I've been tracking my car hard for 10 years with stock wp, stock underdrive and greddy style water pump/alt pulley's. When you start to hear a squeal that goes away quickly after start up there is a good chance you a need a new belt or water pump pulley is worn so replace one or both and keep on revving.

Bottomline: An aftermarket water pump or water pump idler pulley's are not parts anyone needs :egrin:

Mine failed early as well. I pushed out the old bearing and replaced them with new high quality ones (there are (2) bearings) and haven't had a problem since.

Do you have the high quality bearing part numbers?

If you press them out there may be a number on them to cross reference with, otherwise just post up the dimensions and they can be matched that way too

I am trying to avoid doing that:icon_tup:

If somebody has the info, I would rather order, and replace, rather than pull, get the info, order, pull again and replace.

My setup is working fine, I guess I will wait and see if it fails at some point.

You shouldn't have to re-build a brand new part. Contact Pineapple and see if they can make it right in the first place.

Anyone else have issues similar to this?

Debating if I should switch back to the old school greddy pulleys as a "reliability mod". Last thing I need is another reason to possibly sit next to a tow truck driver for 2 hours after a long track day.

You know FFE just released their own version of this, and the bearing is an OEM bearing IIRC. Doubt you would have any concerns of quality with that.

I've been running mine for over a year, without any issues. My engine sees redline often, but I am not at near redline for long periods of time.

In Pineapples defense, I have had mine since it was released without issue. So over 4 years? I would like to deduce whether or not the bearing will fail eventually or not for those tracking their cars often.

I've got the pulley... and Have Swapped the bearing twice so far. And Guess what?....I started the car yesterday with the "New" advised to use bearing and heard that Defening horrifyingly loud squeeling. I've heard people using it without issue.. And I'd like to think i pay particular attention to how much tension is on my belts and make sure that it's never too much... but I threw in the towel and already have a Full Function Engineering Pulley ON the way. It uses the OE idler pump bearing with a custom machined pulley around it so that your really getting a solid bearing. Kit looks freakin excellent! pics to come!

I been running it for more than 3 years few moth ago bearing started to make a bit of noise.Just pull it out and press the bearing out and put in new one easy to do.Ball bearing # is 6302 you need 2 of them.

Mine just started making noise today after autocrossing :[

Pinapple Racing Idler pulley Failure
 

Had mine on for about a little over a month and did an autox.. seems ok so far. . I'm just happy they made a big turbo version or else it wouldn't fit, like others who make theirs ( not bagging just saying other brands wouldn't of fit otherwise.)

I spoke to Rob this weekend about the bearing issue. When the pulley kits were designed he worked with the bearing manufacture to spec the size and rating of the bearings per the application engineers recommendations. While the majority of users don't seem to have an issue, he is working with the bearing manufacture to see if there is a slightly different bearing that may be better suited to the increased loads that possible over tightening of the belts can cause. As a reminder, there are new install instructions available and he is happy to warranty any kits- just shoot him an email sales@pineappleracing.com.

On a side note- I removed his first prototype pulley kit from a customers car a few weeks ago- over 8 years with no issues. He traded it out for a new kit, just so he could hold on to the original.

What you talked to rob? Man for the past couple years I thought he was dead. I feel like such a ass I need to quit killing people off.

I stop by his shop a few times every month. He just bought my old Bridgeport Mill. He's definitely still kicking, but he's only taking on work that he wants to do at this point.

He's definitely still around. I live a mile from his shop and stop in regularly. He's essentially a one man shop. This includes rebuilds, machining, and customer service, so it may be hard to get a hold of him by phone. Email is the best bet if you're not in the area.

That's good to hear .Why must I keep killing people?

Uh, sure.

Mine has crapped itself after 3000miles. Bearing is absolutely dry. I got in touch with Rob about a month ago and he was going to send a replacement bearing. However since the conversation has dried up with no replies from Rob. No answering of the Pineapple Racing phone either?

Does anyone know if he actually IS dead?

Or has he decided not to honour the lifetime warranty of this product....

Either way I just want a new bearing at his cost to get the car running again...

Belt was at factory tightness if not looser.

bought this as used item and for peace of mine I sent in to him asking for a replacement bearing got it back within a week

Rob has just emailed me back now. Apparantly the emails I sent made their way into the wrong directory.... (I think as he is in this thread above he will have been notified of posts by this forum and hence prompted).

Sounds like it is on it's way so will be sorted soon enough now.

did you got it sorted it out with him ??

Edit: spoke out of frustration.

Nope.
So after the bull about not seeing emails then I got told it was too expensive to send replacement bearings internationally. Then he tried to look at a local place and order them for me, and he decided that was too expensive too and stopped replying to my emails.
The bearings weren't cheap for their size.
Not to mention the belt spec chart was wrong and the original belt didn't fit so I had to buy a new belt on day one.

Support someone else.

That does not sound quite right, I'll as Rob about it the next time I stop by. I know he had a belt issue with his supplier (got me too).

Mine just failed, exactly like the picture that was posted. I will pull it apart this weekend, and will look for a part number on the bearing :(

***I know this is an old thread, just posting information for other people***

Pulled the idler pulley last night, will remove the bearing from the pulley sometime this weekend. For the time being, the pulley seems to have TWO bearings, both bearings are bad, but the front one (the one facing the radiator) is that one that crapped out. The rear bearing has a stamped number, which is 6302RS

I will post additional info as I get to it.

Dang, I'll have to keep an eye on mine. Thanks for the update, Elio!

Ok, last one for today, found this bearing, not sure if its a better quality than the one that came with the pulley:

https://www.motionindustries.com/pro...p?sku=05046586

Doh!

Me too....although the FFE one would match my Banzai Pullers better ......so maybe I go shopping regardless.......:egrin:

Wish I had seen this thread sooner!

...

yes, 2 bearings.

what happens is dirt gets into the bearing and destroys it.

I purchased 2 NSK bearings off ebay for a good price and they are doing very well. some few thousands of miles on them with no problems. Just need a high quality same bearing. NSK, KOYO are the ones I like. Timken probably isn't bad either. I would avoid any no name ones IMO.

Thread revival!

I originally had a Tweakit pulley and that bearing failed years ago after a couple years of use (it seized during a fun drive on some back roads up in the mountains and it shot out from under the car and bounced towards my buddy's Roush 429 Mustang behind me lol), so I replaced with a Pineapple one and that one started squealing after a few years and Rob sent me new bearings, but I'd already replaced them with some I bought online. At the time I didn't realize that the bearings are slightly different, so I replaced them with two of the same bearing. I just replaced them again with the ones linked below because I thought they might be squealing again, but I discovered it was the front bearing in the alternator. I prefer Timken myself.

63022RSC3 - Timken Deep Groove - Quality Bearings Online
63022RS - Timken Deep Groove - Quality Bearings Online

This is a timely thread revival for me, since the Pinapple Racing idler pulley that cam with my FD is starting to get noisy. So far it only makes noise on a cold startup, and the noise tends to die down a few minutes after startup, but I'm sure these bearings won't last much longer, so I reached out to Pineapple asking about replacement bearings. FWIW, I have their "original" pulley kit, not the newer "big turbo" kit. Below was their response, along with some pictures, which BTW was very timely - same day I inquired via email.

Hi Pete,

We can provide the bearings or you can source them locally. We try to design using common, standard parts.

6302 2rs is the bearing number. Most parts houses have these in stock.

It seems like you have experience replacing bearings, but just in case we attached a few pics.

215*F was the preheat temp for the pulley before installing the bearings when new.

Take care,
PR
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...92052af3d7.jpg
Tools needed to do the job
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...321d800e2c.jpg
C-clip removal/install
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...8bababa399.jpg
Pressing out old bearings
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7d9282dbbb.jpg
Heating pulley prior to installing new bearings
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c04626351c.jpg
Checking temp of pulley while heating prior to new bearing installation
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...17428ba7bd.jpg
What to do if the new bearing doesn't drop in enough

I had no idea he suggests using heat, I've always just used my press.

I had never tried using heat when pressing in new bearings either, but it did make them drop right in a lot easier. Just finished doing mine, same new 6302-2RS Timkin bearings you used. Since I don't have a press, I used some sockets and the bench vise to press mine in. Hardest part of the job was getting that damned snap ring out because my snap ring pliers suck, and it was a tight fit to the groove.

The first time I replaced all my suspension bushings about 15 years ago I used sockets and a vise. That's a huge job lol.

My idler pulley bearings started to make noise a couple days ago after about 14k miles. After an email to Rob at Pineapple Racing new bearing are on the way to me for free as part of the lifetime warranty. Super easy transaction with them. Stand up company from my experience with them.