Anyone tried using lightened underdrive pulley off ebay?

[SR20Inside]

I noticed that I could pick up a lightened underdrive pulley off ebay for $60 or so and was wondering if anyone has tried it or not or if anyone knows if they suck or what.
TIA

[punxva]

i'd probably go with a name brand, since that is a very important part, unlike going with teh ebay intakes, or exhausts, or even the strut bars, but a pully, if something were to crack or even worse, shatter, then u'd be f**ked, since ur name is sr20 inside, then im assuming uve got an sr... i'd go with the greddy kit, it may be more expensive, but if u want pullys id go with them. And if by chance your using a KA, then go with either ASP or Unorthadox Racing.

[SR20Inside]

I actually am thinking of going NA KA on my 240, have the sr20 in my g20. So maybe I will go with the ASP pulley then, that way if something does go wrong I can blame them.

[sr240mike]

hmm. ASP claims 8hp increase with the crank pulley. Not bad for $120 from enjuku.

[Jeff240sx]

ASP timing marks are off. Unorthodox for the win.
-Jeff

[SR20Inside]

ASP timing marks are off. Unorthodox for the win.
-Jeff

UR is 200?! If I am not messing around with the timing then it wouldnt matter right? except I guess when I replace my tensioners and timing chain at the same time it might be nice to be able to make sure the timing is on eh :cool:

The Better question.... why would anyone sell a product like this with timing marks that are off?

[SochBAT]

Wee!! I picked up a UR crank pulley, and it works wonders. I can beat Astros and Quests now.

Lightens the load over stock, which is about 13-15lbs? Good money.

[projectRDM]

UR is 200?! If I am not messing around with the timing then it wouldnt matter right? except I guess when I replace my tensioners and timing chain at the same time it might be nice to be able to make sure the timing is on eh :cool:

The Better question.... why would anyone sell a product like this with timing marks that are off?

The Ebay version is an exact copy of the UR. I installed one on a friend's car just recently. For $60 you can't beat it.

[ranisron]

so... ebay pulley = good buy?

[gpeele]

has anyone noticed how badly the main bearings are affected by switching out the pulley? just want to know, not trying to make a statement.

[S14DB]

has anyone noticed how badly the main bearings are affected by switching out the pulley? just want to know, not trying to make a statement.
Why would they be? The motor is internally balanced.

[SR20Inside]

The Ebay version is an exact copy of the UR. I installed one on a friend's car just recently. For $60 you can't beat it.
sweet might have to just do that then :)

[xnissans14x]

On the ASP crank pulley, do all of them have wrong timing marks? Or did they fix them at some point?

[KA24DESOneThree]

On the ASP crank pulley, do all of them have wrong timing marks? Or did they fix them at some point?

... and, more importantly, how off are they and how would one go about correcting their flaw prior to install?

I've been searching on here and at FA and can't find any information about the wrong timing marks, Jeff.

[gpeele]

Why would they be? The motor is internally balanced.

some crank pullies have a sort of balancing material in them, which is why some honda guys use the fluid damper now istead of the aluminum or ctr pullies. they complain that the lack of damper material in the crank pulley causes the bearings to wear prematurely. i was just wondering if this was an issue for us also.

[projectRDM]

some crank pullies have a sort of balancing material in them, which is why some honda guys use the fluid damper now istead of the aluminum or ctr pullies. they complain that the lack of damper material in the crank pulley causes the bearings to wear prematurely. i was just wondering if this was an issue for us also.

It's not. The KA crank pulley has a rubber damper that's designed to absord shock when the A/C clutch engages, but that's it. There is no balancer.

[gpeele]

sweet, thanks for the info. i take it that the same applies to the sr. i think ill add this to my list of stuff to get.

[ranisron]

I guess I got a good excuse to get the pulley - my belts are getting really old :p

[porn-adkt]

Remember to change your Front Seal at the same time.

[TheSnail]

I got a usp crank pully when I had my ka. It worked. It was 95$ shipped and went through the rpms alot faster. Two weeks later, My front crank bearing took a crap. They did not design a dampener for no reason. The dampend performance ones are 400-600$.

[krustindumm]

did you make sure the crank pully was balanced well before the install?

[TheSnail]

^ what??? hahaha!

[drift into a curb]

R240NA, which seller did your friend get it from? I just want to confirm before purchasing, so I can get the same as your friends
seller 1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nissan-240SX-2-4L-16V-DOHC-91-98-Underdrive-Pulley_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7999 150189QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
seller 2
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-98-240SX-KA24DE-2-4L-16V-Underdrive-Crank-Pulley_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7998 798670QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
seller 3
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NISSAN-91-98-240SX-S13-S14-KA24DE-UNDERDRIVE-PULLEY_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7999 307572QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
seller 4
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/240SX-2-4L-16V-DOHC-KA24DE-91-98-UNDERDRIVE-PULLEY_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7998 884740QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[gpeele]

pretty good write up about crank pullies is in this ad, as well as some propaganda but stilll some good info.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Unorthodox-Ultra-S-Crank-Pulley-Nissan-SR20DET-RWD_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7997871 083QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[KA24DESOneThree]

I got a usp crank pully when I had my ka. It worked. It was 95$ shipped and went through the rpms alot faster. Two weeks later, My front crank bearing took a crap. They did not design a dampener for no reason. The dampend performance ones are 400-600$.

I got new shoes. They were comfortable. Two weeks later, my knee gave out. It was definitely the shoes' fault.

Same argument, just as absurd. There is no factual basis for your statement that "they did not design a dampener for no reason" considering the KA doesn't have a dampener (as stated before in the thread) nor was it without-a-doubt the pulley's fault the bearing failed.

Jeff, I still want to know where you heard the ASP pulley's timing marks are off. I want to know simply for informational purposes, not to challenge the truth of your statement.

[TheSnail]

Well it was when it snowed, and my friend and I went to a parking lot at 2am where we did donuts, bouncing off the rev limiter for 30min. So it could of well been my fault. The guy that picked up the ka also had a friend that had his for a couple of weeks, and got knock aswell. After he said that I blamed it on the pullie. I have no facts, just speaking from experience of owning it.

[krustindumm]

^ what??? hahaha!
the stock pully is balanced, the dampner will do nothing that could cause the bearing to lat any longer. How could it?

The cheap ass brand might cut costs by just assuming that the machined aluminum will be balanced. However it may not be.

I would not be suprised if it was out of balance, personally I would take it to a machine shop to have them check it out. I think it's like $20 to have it balanced. They did my flywheel for free. Partly because they were amazed at how close it was (would have req'd a 1/16" hole 1/16" deep at outer edge to balance), but it wa partly because of the huge bill i had just paid them.

This also has been hapening to honda's for quite awhile. People seem to have main bearing failure shortly after installing cheap pullies, and our stock pulleys do not have dampners.

[WILDACEX187]

ok so bottom line is if u are going to get a cheap pulley make sure it is balanced or else ur engine will take a crap on u correct? will any machine shop be able to balance out a pulley? the ur pulley doesnt seem that bad for the price and the product (i actually got a friend that works for ur so i can get more info) seems to have been made well. i suggest that if u dont want any problems go with a more trustworthy pulley unless u can have the cheapo pulley balanced like stated before.

[projectRDM]

R240NA, which seller did your friend get it from? I just want to confirm before purchasing, so I can get the same as your friends
seller 1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nissan-240SX-2-4L-16V-DOHC-91-98-Underdrive-Pulley_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7999 150189QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
seller 2
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-98-240SX-KA24DE-2-4L-16V-Underdrive-Crank-Pulley_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7998 798670QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
seller 3
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NISSAN-91-98-240SX-S13-S14-KA24DE-UNDERDRIVE-PULLEY_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7999 307572QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
seller 4
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/240SX-2-4L-16V-DOHC-KA24DE-91-98-UNDERDRIVE-PULLEY_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38656QQitemZ7998 884740QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I don't recall offhand, it was $65 shipped if that helps, polished aluminum, not anodized like some I've seen.

[projectRDM]

ok so bottom line is if u are going to get a cheap pulley make sure it is balanced or else ur engine will take a crap on u correct? will any machine shop be able to balance out a pulley? the ur pulley doesnt seem that bad for the price and the product (i actually got a friend that works for ur so i can get more info) seems to have been made well. i suggest that if u dont want any problems go with a more trustworthy pulley unless u can have the cheapo pulley balanced like stated before.

Wrong, wrong. The OE pulley is not balanced either. For the people saying the pulley can cause engine damage, you're full of shit. This argument has gone on for the past decade concerning the KA, there's never been any proof of it. Take the OE pulley apart and look at it's design, it's two pieces bolted together with a chunk of rubber in the middle. Balancing that would require the rubber to be precision cut, and there'd be drilled marks or indents on the pulley. There aren't. Other engines may very well have this kind of issue, the KA isn't one of them though.
I bought a UR pulley when they were first released back in 1997 and drove over 100k miles with it on my old car, of that 100k most of it was well abused, autocross, track events, mountain trips, etc. That engine went into a friend's car recently and we inspected the bearings beforehand, no signs of abnormal wear, damage, or anything to wave us from putting it in.

[ryan hagen]

that rubber damper is also attached to the a/c portion of the pulley, not the alt/ps/wp side. so as i would assume they would leave it off of a no a/c 240sx?

from experience, the pulley doesnt wreck the motor, the driver when noticeing the better response and quicker rev gets on it way more and in my case revs the shit outta it way too much.

for a really fast rev try the pulley with a light flywheel, thats what i had, really easy to bounce the rev limiter......... whom whom whom boom, oopps, oh well i had some spare motors and that one was junk anyways, (bad head gasket & shot thrust bearing).

[projectRDM]

Try the pulley, flywheel, and an aluminum driveshaft too. That's really fun.

[S14DB]

Try the pulley, flywheel, and an aluminum driveshaft too. That's really fun.
ohhh yeah....

[TheWolf]

I have one of those pulleys. the one I got on ebay gave me wrong instructions (the alternator/waterpump belt is this PN.. wtf there is no such thing) .. wrong belt part numbers.. (one was a belt that was no less than 32"; longer than my AC belt) and the keyway wasn't cut deep enough for the crank key. Once installed after 5 trips back and fourth to the parts store the engine seemed to run much warmer than normal and the AC was sheit. it would heat up from dead cold to middle of the gauge in about 30 seconds. Engine idled higher and reved free'er but took it back off and now it sits on my shelf. ebay guy wouldn't take it as a return. think it was debloz parts or something. definitly go brand name on this product or expect to fiddle with it.

edit : As to the warmer question. While it was all apart I replaced the water pump.. samco radiator hoses, new cap, and koyo aluminum race radiator. the car is for spirited driving so I wasn't gonna take a chance. I do notice the ASP pully keeps a large AC belt and a larger drive for the waterpump. Other issues I forgot to mention. timming marks are done with the hammer and chisel method and thus mushed pointed aluminum is pushed in the alternator grove and it is quitte sharp. I debured the aluminum out of the way using my lathe. I would have definitly shredded the edge of the belt. Install the pulley. Get some wire and then goto the parts store to get belts with proper length. Don't use their part numbers or you'll end up swaping out about $50 in belts.

[WILDACEX187]

^^well thats a big deterent. anybody got any input on why his car was running warmer?

[projectRDM]

I have one of those pulleys. the one I got on ebay gave me wrong instructions (the alternator/waterpump belt is this PN.. wtf there is no such thing) .. wrong belt part numbers.. (one was a belt that was no less than 32"; longer than my AC belt) and the keyway wasn't cut deep enough for the crank key. Once installed after 5 trips back and fourth to the parts store the engine seemed to run much warmer than normal and the AC was sheit. it would heat up from dead cold to middle of the gauge in about 30 seconds. Engine idled higher and reved free'er but took it back off and now it sits on my shelf. ebay guy wouldn't take it as a return. think it was debloz parts or something. definitly go brand name on this product or expect to fiddle with it.

edit : As to the warmer question. While it was all apart I replaced the water pump.. samco radiator hoses, new cap, and koyo aluminum race radiator. the car is for spirited driving so I wasn't gonna take a chance. I do notice the ASP pully keeps a large AC belt and a larger drive for the waterpump. Other issues I forgot to mention. timming marks are done with the hammer and chisel method and thus mushed pointed aluminum is pushed in the alternator grove and it is quitte sharp. I debured the aluminum out of the way using my lathe. I would have definitly shredded the edge of the belt. Install the pulley. Get some wire and then goto the parts store to get belts with proper length. Don't use their part numbers or you'll end up swaping out about $50 in belts.

Even the brand name UR pulley has incorrect belt numbers and sizes, so that's not a deterrent. The knockoffs just copy the wrong information that's already there. They list the A/C belt to be same size as OE, it's actually .5" shorter.
As far as overheating with the pulley, you're being unfair since you did several other things at the same time, one being opening up the cooling system. We all know that the KA is prone to air bleeding issues, so anytime you open it you've introduced that issue. All the pulleys made keep the A/C belt close to if not the same as OE, so neither one is better for that, and under driving the A/C would not affect cooling. I think it's more the other things you did and has nothing to do with the pulley.
And finally, Samco does not make radiator hoses for the KA. Try again.

[S14DB]

Even the ASP belt sizes were too small. Only the AC belt fit cause it was the same size. Stretched them over the pulleys and made it work. Not a major issue.

[TheWolf]

Even the brand name UR pulley has incorrect belt numbers and sizes, so that's not a deterrent. The knockoffs just copy the wrong information that's already there. They list the A/C belt to be same size as OE, it's actually .5" shorter.
As far as overheating with the pulley, you're being unfair since you did several other things at the same time, one being opening up the cooling system. We all know that the KA is prone to air bleeding issues, so anytime you open it you've introduced that issue. All the pulleys made keep the A/C belt close to if not the same as OE, so neither one is better for that, and under driving the A/C would not affect cooling. I think it's more the other things you did and has nothing to do with the pulley.
And finally, Samco does not make radiator hoses for the KA. Try again.

You obviously have never used the ebay pulley. First Why would someone buy a UR pulley if it had incorrect instructions. WTF did they test it on then. How could the belts be so off and you think their tech line would have the instructions for the correct ones. I know how to bleed out a cooling system and it was properly done BUT; if there was air in the system causing a warm condition it wouldn't matter which pulley I had on and so the warm condition would have stayed when I put my stock one back on instead of go away like I said. Needless here are the Diameters for the Ebay pulley which is supposedly a UR knock off. As you can see below you've never used the ebay pulley if it's AC belt is only .5" shorter. The ebay pulley's AC belt is like 2+" shorter.

Ebay UR Clone Pulley
Front Waterpump/PS belt 5"
Alternator Belt 5"
AC Belt 4.625"

Stock Pulley (aprox because it's still on the car but close enough to show the difference)

Front Waterpump PS belt 6"
Alternator Belt 6.25"
AC Belt 6"

This results in a
Waterpump/Powersteering 20% underdrive
Alternator 25% underdrive
AC belt 30% underdrive (just like stock eh)

Finally Hoses were "samco style" when I looked at the auction.. still quite functional for $50.

The ASP pulley on enjuku's site shows what apears to be a stock sized AC pulley with a smaller waterpump/alternator combination. Maybe this is what you are referencing.

[projectRDM]

You obviously have never used the ebay pulley. First Why would someone buy a UR pulley if it had incorrect instructions. WTF did they test it on then. How could the belts be so off and you think their tech line would have the instructions for the correct ones. I know how to bleed out a cooling system and it was properly done BUT; if there was air in the system causing a warm condition it wouldn't matter which pulley I had on and so the warm condition would have stayed when I put my stock one back on instead of go away like I said. Needless here are the Diameters for the Ebay pulley which is supposedly a UR knock off. As you can see below you've never used the ebay pulley if it's AC belt is only .5" shorter. The ebay pulley's AC belt is like 2+" shorter.

Ebay UR Clone Pulley
Front Waterpump/PS belt 5"
Alternator Belt 5"
AC Belt 4.625"

Stock Pulley (aprox because it's still on the car but close enough to show the difference)

Front Waterpump PS belt 6"
Alternator Belt 6.25"
AC Belt 6"

This results in a
Waterpump/Powersteering 20% underdrive
Alternator 25% underdrive
AC belt 30% underdrive (just like stock eh)

Finally Hoses were "samco style" when I looked at the auction.. still quite functional for $50.

The ASP pulley on enjuku's site shows what apears to be a stock sized AC pulley with a smaller waterpump/alternator combination. Maybe this is what you are referencing.

You obviously can't fucking read, but that's ok. We're used to ignorance around here. First off, I don't know why the UR instructions were incorrect, I don't work there and I didn't build the pulley or produce the instructions for it. I'm sure in the past seven years they've corrected it too, but speaking from my experience on my own UR pulley, the belt sizes were wrong. I never called their tech line either so it's possible they knew the mistake all along. If you take offense to that, call UR, don't whine to me about it.
Secondly, two weeks ago exactly a local friend bought a Ebay offbrand pulley, identical to my UR pulley. I installed it. There's no getting around that fact, sorry that I can't turn the clock back and invite you over for the install, I'll remember next time and keep you posted on my future work if you're going to be so offensive about it. Now as pointed out there are a few different versions floating around, you never pointed out which one you had so it's entirely possible the belt sizes were much different on yours than the one I installed. I never said it was a law that all knockoffs have the same belt sizes or fitment issues, you just assumed that.
Now that we've had a pissing match, I still stand but what I know from firsthand experience, it's just now apparent that there are other versions of these pulleys with slightly different sizing/patterns.

[crioten]

i love internet pissing matches....

they rule!!1!

[SR20Inside]

The timing marks look like they are off to me....

http://www.utahsr20s.com/lightenedpulley.jpg

[IKnowAllOfNothing]

sr20inside is that the ebay knockoff or is that the ur pulley?
and what engine is that one for sr or ka?

[ranisron]

so what belt size should we get with the eBay pullies for the KA?

[SochBAT]

I'd say get one that roughly .5" or 1" smaller than stock. If anything, they don't charge for exchanging it for a different size. Mines was 1" smaller that stock.

[ranisron]

thank you sochbat!

^start eBaying...

[SR20Inside]

sr20inside is that the ebay knockoff or is that the ur pulley?
and what engine is that one for sr or ka?

It is the ebay knockoff pulley for ka

[ranisron]

I think they have for both... it's not too hard searching for 240sx pulley on ebay is it... the selllers list out the description pretty well, too

[Dream240]

The timing marks look like they are off to me....

http://www.utahsr20s.com/lightenedpulley.jpg

"RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE"

Yes I'm reviving a really old thread...anyways. I noticed on these pics the timing marks are in fact further spaced than the stock ones.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this because the eBay/UR pulley is designed larger in diameter thus, rotating slower, therefore the marks need to be a bit further apart to accomodate for the rotation speed of the pulley. This keeps the timing correct to OEM specs.

Does this sound right? Now I am curious cause I actually bought the Ultra SS kit for my old S14 from UR (about 4 years ago) and never had any problems with timing. Belt sizes were an issue of course but the perofrmance never suffered, and I did have to do a timing adjustment once when replacing the Dist. So they had to have been right on. Since I don't have the UR pulley anymore I cant compare the sizes or marks.

I'm asking all this cause I'm leaning towards the eBay pulley for my S13, both to save 120 bucks and I might as well do it since I broke the Pulley bolt loose trying to get my old flex plate bolts off last week. Kill two birds basically. :)

Mabye R240NA you could shed some light? How's your friends car now? Any timing issues? Is he even still your friend? :(

Late.

[TipStylez]

Try the pulley, flywheel, and an aluminum driveshaft too. That's really fun.

Word, i been seeing one pice aluminum driveshafts on ebay go for 200 a pop. Deals.

Do that, and a new clutch with light flywheel, and your pullys. Your gonna be gaining alot more low end, that would make a KA even more fun! OMG i wanna go do it now.:cj:

You can also get their lil alternator pully, and the lil throttle pully too if you wanna go all out.

[Dream240]

Word, i been seeing one pice aluminum driveshafts on ebay go for 200 a pop. Deals.

Do that, and a new clutch with light flywheel, and your pullys. Your gonna be gaining alot more low end, that would make a KA even more fun! OMG i wanna go do it now.:cj:

You can also get their lil alternator pully, and the lil throttle pully too if you wanna go all out.

Actually the small one is a P/S pulley. But for the KADE I don't think UR makes the Ultra SS pulley kit anymore. Heard that somewhere. So now all you can get is the Crank pulley.

Here's a link to a power page from Import Tuner waaaay back in the day. Great gains for the KA with the pulleys.

http://www.importtuner.com/powerpages/0210it_1996_nissan_240sx_se/

I had em on my S14....loved every rev happy minute of em.

[TipStylez]

Theres a alternator pully too. It said in clear words on the tittle one day while i was searching ebay.

I dont think anyone makes a full kit for the KA. You gotta buy them one at a time i bet.