maestro

I've gotten this all resolved, but just wanted to put together a post to warn others of this possible failure. It's nothing severe, but warrants a good visual inspection so you don't end up stranded when your pulley decides to split in two....



I had noticed the rubber looking slightly ragged on the pulley, but didn't think much of it and mentally noted that I should keep an eye on it. Well, within a week, the belts kept loosening up, and when I went to tighten them up, I noticed that the crank pulley had completely delaminated and was in two seperate pieces.

I called around to various service/parts departments, and at first I got answers to the effect that this was unheard of and almost unbelievable, but the more I spoke with people the more it became apparent that this is in fact a common thing.

The fact that it happened to my car at only 40k seems to be a bit unusual, but I was told that the pulleys are normally replaced when the timing belt is and it seems that they are considered a 'wear' item... Why the pulley is designed like this slightly baffles me.

Anyway, heads up - take a look at your pulley

MAESTRO

__________________
• '04/'07 F-XT ~The Duck of Doom~
• '72 Datsun 240Z

GatorXTi

Good reason to support aftermarket replacement despite the pseudo HP debate.

__________________

GATOR WAGON LINKY

tre36

Bummer. Sorry to hear this.

I hope you got it replaced under warranty or atleast they pony up some cash for you to get a one piece billet aluminum lightweight crank pulley of your choice.

Hondaslayer

Not common at all.

If I see two a year across all the models that would be pushing it.

The last one we did was on a SVX with 220somethingk on it. 40k is VERY early.

__________________
It's real velour. Just let yourself go!

Corporal_Punishment

I'm going to have to agree with Ben one this one. Not really common at all. I sold a total of 3 last year and only 1 this year. I have never sold one to a car that had less the 120,000 miles.

Ben

maestro

Thread Starter

Well, that's slightly reassuring, since I replaced it with a new stock pulley

Hopefully this one lasts more than just another 40k

__________________
• '04/'07 F-XT ~The Duck of Doom~
• '72 Datsun 240Z

maestro

Thread Starter

I stopped trying to warranty anything in the engine compartment a long time ago

__________________
• '04/'07 F-XT ~The Duck of Doom~
• '72 Datsun 240Z

sjwelna

Just a side question: Are the crank pulley's on the ej25 harmonically dampened like they are on DSM's? I know a lot of dsm guys have had problems with aftermarket crank pulleys because they are NOT harmonically dampened.

-Steve

__________________
'05 FXT 5MT

Hondaslayer

Depends on where you ask.

NASIOC will insist it is solid metal, even though the above pic clearly shows otherwise

__________________
It's real velour. Just let yourself go!

whyrichard

same thing just happened to me. '04 xt with 100,000 miles.

Could it be the result of an improperly fixed front end collision?

thanks,

r.

flstffxe

If the pulley took a hit on the outer ring it may have been enough to start breaking the rubber bond with the two parts of the pulley.

It also just happens some times.

Some auto parts stores(autozone) carry a after market replacement at a far lower price then the OEM.

The Doorman part# 594-166 at Autozone is about $80.

__________________
His - 08 X Prem 5mt
Hers - 08 X 4EAT
Subaru oil filter comparison

Papa_D

Absolutely, or at least that's what you need to tell the insurance adjuster anyway.

On a side note, we had problems with lightweight pulleys on the Titan even though they were manufactured well and I won't ever try them on a daily driver, I will stick with the factory versions and avoid any potential problems.

__________________
09 FXT LTD, 4 SPD AT, NAV and AutoStart

ferret

This is very common for the crank pulley on ALL EJ engines. ALL the way back to MY90 Legacy, I have seen this problem. In fact I just replaced MY04 a month ago buying one from a member of another board. I had 154K at the time I replaced it.

Subaru's price for a replacement is ridiculous .... somewhere around $140. But the damage this can do can go way beyond that.

Usually 1st symptom is one of the belts comes off, frays and breaks or just becomes noisy. When you look at it running, you can see the outer grooved pulley wobbling and the belts tracking all over the place.

__________________
04XSPP, 98S (8 Subaru's since 1978, 7 were 5 sp) ILuvSubaru's

Tuned200

A friend locally had his shread on his 06 lgt with 70k on it. It took out his timing belt cover as well.

__________________
2007 Forester XT - The Gray Goose
2006 Forester XT - Blu-Blur
2010 Forester X - SOLD-The Green Goblin

flstffxe

Whats is even better is when the bolt loosens up and takes out the key way on the crank shaft.

__________________
His - 08 X Prem 5mt
Hers - 08 X 4EAT
Subaru oil filter comparison