Lightened crank pulley == CEL?

[wildo]

Results

Well guys, good and bad news


The good news is that after charging up the battery, testing the alternator again (it checked fine) and taking the car for an aggressive drive- I am no longer getting the flashing CEL.

The bad news is that I didn't really do anything to resolve the issue... I just made sure all the wiring harness plugs that I had undone were properly seated. I also (obviously) removed and reinstalled the crank pulley bolt (to take the pics) - but I can't see how that would do anything... I also reached up to make sure the alternator wiring harness plug was properly seated- it was...

Since the battery still had enough power to cause the starter to click- I think it's safe to assume the ECU didn't reset itself...


So, I'm sorry to those who were following this hoping to see a resolution- I just don't have one for you. Wish I did!!

 

[TWISFM]

Im thinking it was just the battery didnt have enough power. Thus resulting in misfirings due to the underdriven crank.

 

[neox.286]

random question


was your timing set right after you swapped the crank?
surprised no one asked it before in this thread...if the cel comes back Id say check your timing

 

[Maxx Mazda]

The timing isn't affected unless you pull the timing pulley off the crank, but that's behind the timing cover, etc.

Your crank pulley looks fine.

 

[neox.286]

damnit your right >.<
I need sleep...

 

[djcharlee]

Same Problem: only worse

I installed this pulley along with the Medieval Light weight pulleys. Only for some reason the sensor came loose the teeth caught it and ripped it off. I was furious, I am having a shop put all my stock pulleys back and replace my sensor.

Hope you dont get the CEL back.

Charlee

 

[TWISFM]

all this is making me worried. I plan on installing mine in a month or so the 4pc kit including the UDP. any advice so that none of this happens to me?

 

[wildo]

Just take your time and doublecheck everything. I really think my situation was a bit of a fluke- as it just went away after I doublechecked everything. Based on the number of people who have done this mod, and not had any trouble- I wouldn't let my one odd situation affect your decision to go through with it.


As far as a tip- the alternator belt tensioning bolt is really hard to get too. If you remove the cruise control actuator (#7 in the attached pic) by removing the two nuts (#4 in pic), you can actually just move it out of the way without disconnecting anything other than the electrical plug (#1 in pic). This makes it VERY easy to get to the bolt...

 

[neox.286]

or come up from the bottom
(though Im not positive if there is shrouding there, most of my shrouding has been removed)

if there isnt any shrouding you should be able to access it fairly easily

 

[wildo]

I tried from the bottom and didn't have much luck. There is a cross member there. Perhaps if the car is on a lift that could be doable, though

 

[neox.286]

true, I have small arms so its not too hard for me to go that way *shrugs*

I also used box ends for most of the pulley bolts because ratchets were too cumbersome to get into those areas

 

[wildo]

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly...

Well a one week update here...

I think at this point it's safe to call the CEL issues a fluke. I've been driving for a week now, and the CEL has not come back. So yeah- that's the good.

The bad is that I was driving around today, and the car just died. It would turn over, but got no spark. For a bit, I thought it was just a water issue w/ the electrical system since I had JUST pulled out of the car wash. As it turned out, it was a problem with the crank position gear that is screwed to the back of the pulley.

The ugly is that it isn't that the 4 small screws actually came out- rather, they actually sheared off. So I am going to have to buy a set of easy-outs to get the sheared off screws out. I think what happened is that the screws were a bit loose, and worked themselves out enough where the torque of the motor caused the screws to be sheared off.

I've attached a (big) pic so you guys can see the damage. Lucky for me, somehow the crank position sensor did not get damaged. I put the stock pulley back on, and haven't had an issue.


I guess the moral of the story is- if you get an aftermarket crank pulley that has a removable sensor gear- take the screws out, put some red locktite on them, and make sure everything is good and tight.

This sucks, but could have been much, much worse.

 

[mspHtown]

who made that pulley?

 

[SIBalla23]

That looks like the Midevial lightweight pulley. If so did you have the revised screws that was sent out installed in the pulley? If not, then the screws were to blame and are not strong enough hence why new revised screws have been sent out.

 

[wildo]

It is a Medieval pulley, but I bought it off of a member here. So, I have no idea about what "revision" of screws were in it. Any chance you know more about this? I'll search around here and see what I can come up with. Thanks for the info!

 

[SIBalla23]

Were the screws in pulley have a phillips head? If so then they are the original weak screws. New one are allen head and supposed to be stronger.

 

[wildo]

Wow, I didn't realize this was such a recent issue... I found the thread here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123684204
They were the phillips head screws...

 

[ForceFed]

Its hard to have a Screw shear off when there is no load on the plate (timing plate) that sheared away from the pulley.
There is no force acting against that plate other than its own weight..which cant be much at all.

Thats bad news right there.

 

[SIBalla23]

The screws had to have had backed out. I read they have backed out on one other pulley and that made Brach aka Medieval ship out stronger screws. Even with stronger, slightly different designed screws, I would still locktite them.

 

[ForceFed]

That right there isnt the result of screws backed out....THey just broke off.

Backed out would look different if you ask me..I have seen a few things in my day sheared off.
I could be wrong though.

I thought I was wrong once.....But I was Mistaken.