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WARNING: Do not replace your stock crank pulley with the aluminum aftermarket junk!

47634 Views 40 Replies 26 Participants Last post by  Ev0_j0e
I learned another hard lesson with my car and installing pretty parts. I picked up and Agency Power billet aluminum crank pulley for m build to "Reduce rotational weight". It didn't work out like I expected and what a hunk of junk it turned out to be. Also keep in mind there are several companies that have these and 90% of them look like they are made in the same overseas factory and just engraved with various company names. I've learned my lesson, I'm putting the stock pulley back on and counting my lucky stars I didn't do any more damage than what I did.
Let me paint this picture on how / what happened. I was out on my private strip doing a few tuning pulls and getting my new turbo kit dialed in. I had just finished up run # 20 something and started packing everything up after making 640whp and 490wtq (Power is probably a contributing factor here as well). So after double checking everything and getting ready to hit the freeway I wanted to check response and check for boost spikes. In Idaho our freeways are 75mph so I decide to do a 1st -3rd quick pull while getting on the inclining on ramp.
So at the top of 3rd everything just went dead, no noise and no warning signs just dead. The service engine soon light came on and I pulled off to the side of the road so I could pull the code. P0340 and some other random cam code I can't remember. I got out looked the car over and since I didn't see any puddles under it or obvious fragmented parts so I decided to try and start it back up hoping maybe it was just an issue of something like chain stretch. With a couple of quick start attempts that were unsuccessful I stopped and called a tow truck. I knew something was wrong just from the sound, or lack of sound while trying turn it over.

I got the car home, did a tear down and discovered;







Now my poor Cosworth head needs to be rebuilt because the valves are bent. Overall just for parts and a machine shop I'm looking at $700 on the low end. Not to mention I now need a new head gasket, timing chain, crank pulley, oil pump chain, timing chain tensioner, and all new fluids. There I'm looking at an additional $500 or more. So not including labor because I'm doing this myself the cost is over $1200 just in parts with some machine work.

I know Agency Power isn't going to refund me that even though it's there part that failed causing the other issues. Besides even if they did there would probably be some sort of stipulation to keep the incident off the web and I just couldn't let this happen to someone else.

Now there is a bit of a bright side to all of this, on other motors I've seen that have rotated 180* off after jumping / busting a timing chain / belt not only did they trash their valves but where the hit fucked up the piston's and cylinder walls. My pistons are perfect, my cylinder walls are perfect. All I did after I took the head off was wipe off the pistons with a rag and they look beautiful and not a single ding on them. Now if I were running a higher lift cam there would probably be more damage but overall I ended up in good shape compared to others.





If you have one of these take it off your car before you end up with an expensive repair bill. Even though my car is over 600whp it can still happen to lesser powered vehicles over time or even with a harsh down shift.

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fml i just sold mine :( (the oem one that is)
That's a hit Justin... but Aluminum vs Steel... the stock pulley wins. Eitherway, it sucks...
I was just looking at one of these AP pulleys the other day. Didn't buy because i wondered why no one else had them to be honest
ive had mine since 2008. no issues. yet.
Holy bad shit, batman. :( Sorry that happened.

Nice numbers, btw. ;)
Howie run to the dealer.


Shit, this really sucks. Sorry dude :(
Howie run to the dealer.
Howie is fine...his car is slow. :shades:

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I've read a bit about the ATI damper. Considering how critical the balance of the rotating assembly is, I wouldn't install something on there thinking that 'lighter is better'.

I'm also trying to imagine how breaking that could bend valves. It must have seized for a moment and messed up the timing chain?

Damn, I just sold my stocker a few days ago. Looks like I am buying a new one.
Frankly the stock pulley is a solid piece. I am glad it wasn't some metal/rubber abomination like so many other dampers out there. I reused mine when I did my build.
I guess piece of mind > 5 whp (if that)....

I will buy one if someone is selling.
Hollywood while you have it apart. You should change the fan belt idler pulleys to the metal Hyundai ones as well.
Hollywood while you have it apart. You should change the fan belt idler pulleys to the metal Hyundai ones as well.
wut
Wow, looks like your woodruff key broach deformed and your key fell out; maybe the metallurgy isn't as well developed as that alloy doesn't appear to stand up to shear forces too well. I always ran a good damper (like ATI) in my other cars because they make a modular system where you can rebuild or replace the rubber inertia rings when it comes time to teardown. Sorry to hear about your problems and hope you get back on the road in short order. Is it me or are your bores really that smooth? I didn't notice a ridge , so your engine has relatively low miles, but I would think that your hone would help retain more oil in your bores.Are Mitsu's different in that aspect?
Howie is fine...his car is slow. :shades:

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I've read a bit about the ATI damper. Considering how critical the balance of the rotating assembly is, I wouldn't install something on there thinking that 'lighter is better'.

I'm also trying to imagine how breaking that could bend valves. It must have seized for a moment and messed up the timing chain?
I guess I should have explained that part a little better. When the key way broke loose it got sucked back into the the motor and got caught between the chains and the sprocket. It wedged in far enough the chain spun 180* before it kicked it out and into the oil pan. When I took the oil pan off the oil pump chain had one of the links just hanging and a few others just ready to pop off. Whats surprising is the oil pump chain cost 25% more than the timing chain that's 4 times it's size. I did manage to find out though MAPerformance is the cheapest for OEM parts when tracking this stuff down.

Hollywood while you have it apart. You should change the fan belt idler pulleys to the metal Hyundai ones as well.
I saw that a few times but I couldn't find anyone who actually had one blow up. Do you have a link to an incident?
There are some posts on EvoM of people that have the issue with the idler pulleys, but no pictures showing it. If it were a major issue, I would have thought we'd have seen more of it by now.
There are some posts on EvoM of people that have the issue with the idler pulleys, but no pictures showing it. If it were a major issue, I would have thought we'd have seen more of it by now.
For the serpentine belt? Cuzzzz The chain doesn't use a pulley, it uses resin guides.
For the serpentine belt? Cuzzzz The chain doesn't use a pulley, it uses resin guides.
Yeah, the belt not the chain and it had something to do with the pulleys just exploding.
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