OK, so.... Got my mina gallery pulley installed. They charged me 3.5 hours and they said they had a hard time putting it on. So I am driving home on the highway and decide to GUN it. I always hear the old pulley spool up quite loud and jerk the car foward fast through the rpm range. But I heard no pully and the car slowly went through the rpm range. Still had power but nothing like i am used to. I figure it shouldnt be slower with the upgrade and it should be louder. So I got home and popped the hood noticed that the superch. belt was freyed on the side quite a bit. The pulley was spinning at idle seemingly ok. Took pictures sent them to mina gallery people. The supercharger shaft was about 2 mm in from the pulley it wasn't flush like it was supposed to be. So he said that could cause friction and cause the charger to slip and not function properly. I went to pep boys as instructed and picked up a pulley install kit with an 8 mm ford bolt in the kit. I dropped the car back off to the garage that did it, so hopefully they can fix it tommorow. Any thoughts on why the supercharger is not pulling. Do you think mina is correct in that if it's not exactly flush it could cause slippage and I wouldn't hear it or feel it? The only thoughts im thinking is these guys ruined my supercharger!! Very uneasy right now. THOUGHTS???

 

The Mina pulley should be flush on the s/c shaft. Can you post the pic? It sounds like the shop didn't put it on all the way. What happens is if the pulleys are not all aligned, it will chew through your belt. Make sure to get the shop to buy you a new belt as well...

 

as you can try to see about 2mm lip to the shaft

 

Has the shop done this before? Going through the instructions for the pulley install it states that it has to be flush with the shaft. Did you watch them during the install at all? With it on the car, they will have to raise the motor to be able to use the pulley installer to push it on. Make sure they don't try to beat it on the rest of the way, it will damage the supercharger bearings.

 

sounds like the belt slip is preventing it from spinning up properly at speed, the pulley is misaligned basically,
going to need a pulley puller to peel it back a bit on the shaft... they def. screwed it up, it shouldn't sit so far back on the snout,
the instructions that came with my pulley suggested to use a feeler gauge to have it sit .25-.50mm past the end of the shaft, so in other words, pretty much flush.

Although its easy to screw up I suppose, I was working with a stainless pulley, so had to heat it up, slide it onto the shaft real quick, and get it lined it up where it needs to be within seconds.

 

The tool mina told me to get is not that big so you would have to raise the motor at all.

Update** Just talked to the shop and they said the guy broke two of the install tools yesterday so they just left it not flush cuz that's as far as it would go. What a bunch of *stuff. That ticks me off.

 

i built my own pulley puller for the job, came in very handy,
being the mina is an aluminum pulley, it is a bit delicate, make sure they dont butcher the job at this point trying to tweak its position on the shaft...

 

You're getting hosed. They hacked the job, knowingly didn't get it right, and gave you back your car? And now it doesn't work, not surprisingly, so I'd be pretty dang peeved if I were you for sure. I'd also be expecting them to either fix it, although I'd be a little leery of even letting them touch it again, or having them refund a large part of the costs they charged you, as they didn't actually DO THE JOB they were hired to do.

 

How do I make sure they don't butcher the job, I can't be there and I don't even know what to do? So peeved.

 

It's going to be hard to monitor this. But do your best to carefully inspect what you can see of the pulley before you leave with it "fixed" - take a flashlight and get it down in there as best you can and look for any tool marks on the pulley, any nicks, chunks, scratches, etc. Also examine the surrounding area for evidence of prying, or using nearby parts to gain leverage on the pulley.

Start it up and observe what you can of the belts moving. Listen for any odd noises and try to see if you can detect any wobble in the pulley - have someone step on the throttle for you if you can. If your supercharger belt gets frayed again well you'll know you are still at square 1. And that belt in the pic you posted is shot, it better not be on there still when you pick up the car.

 

+1 - they trashed your belt so they need to replace it at their expense as well as doing the job right

 

I haven't installed my mina pulley yet but I was under the impression that you could just chase it on the shaft with the bolt on the pulley. Am I wrong?

 

So PULLEY is flush perfect. Still no whine on the way home, power was spotty intermitent. Looked at the belt and it was loose looking and rolled up on itself spoke to mina they said def. need new belt. Also started the engine up for my nephew to hear the exhaust, and with no wind sitting semi outside the car I heard a distinct swooshing sound like the pulley is just turning inside the belt without catching , no whine just like a friction "esque" swoosh. SO definitley slipping. Here's a pic, gonna post a video and mark the belt to , but LOOK AT THIS. ANY THOUGHTS??

VIDEO LINK OF SLIPPAGE AND WHILE ENGINE RUNNING! - Pulley slippage bad belt - YouTube

 

I'm not a mechanic, but i sympathize with you. I've had work done on my STR that was either incorrectly done or just a **** poor job. I would get my money back if at all possible and then get someone else to do the work. They've had 2 shots at getting it right. My fear would be that they might damage something else while trying to salvage this install. Good luck with it though. Hopefully they'll be professional about their screw up.

 

So it looks like they got the pulley on correctly (perhaps) but didn't bother replacing the belt that they screwed up. So, now it's up to your tolerance for dealing with these fools. They owe you a belt. If you can stand it, go back and demand they put one on at their expense since they screwed yours up originally. I'd understand though if you just want to wash your hands of them at this point and to the belt yourself or have another mechanic put it on. Bottom line - your belt is toast. Hopefully a new one will restore your STR to proper operation. Fingers crossed for you buddy, good luck!!

 

So the garage is going to get a belt by tommorow morning and install it free of charge. I am going to sit with them while they do it this time. Is anybody familar on exactly what you have to do to compress/release the tension on the belt to take it off, then to install new one??

Just want to be prepared.

 

It has an automatic tensioner, pretty easy to swap the belt. I would recommend a Gatorback belt.

 

It really isn't too hard. You have to remove/move the coolant reservoir out of the way. Then it is a matter of using a 1/2 inch drive to pull the tensioner. Belt slips off easy

 

Mina said it was a 1/4", and you said it was a 1/2". Will both work? You just push it in right. No screwing or anything.

And I thought a gatorback was for 3 lb pulley?

 

whichever size it is ..is the one you will have to use ..you cannot put a quarter inch drive in a half inch hole and expect it to work. correct me if I'm wrong but the Gatorback belt is for the newer ribbed Pulleys not the older flat style.