[///M_Achilles]

June 14th 2012


Turner Motorsport Pulleys were installed today. I bought them from Shimmy23 earlier this year; however, I finally had the time to get around to installment. I used a really helpful DIY pdf file that 4getR34 put together http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=347841


>Water Pump Pulley
>Power Steering Pulley
>Alternator Pulley
>New drive belt

Install was time consuming, but certainly miles easier compared to last month's DIY project. A few things that threw me off and worth noting: I didn't have the proper tools to take off the fan clutch as I didn't feel like paying $50 for a 1703 spanner wrench. Instead, I used a 1 1/4" wrench (32mm), a dead blow hammer, and lots of bubble wrap to loosen the nut that's torqued to the water pump. It was kinda of nerve racking, because of I've heard of putting excess strain on the timing chain and premature water pump failures attributed to this method (so far so good after today's test run....) Also, the fan shroud was kind of a hassle to remove. I never completely removed the shroud, because of wiring that was still attached, so installment was pretty much a jig saw puzzle of where my hands needed to be with certain parts lol. Moving forward, and probably the biggest pain of the install was removing the nuts from the OEM pulleys; there seems to be never a short of seized nuts and bolts during these DIY projects. A bit of PB blaster saved the day. Finally, torquing the nuts down was a bit of a guessing game as my 1/2" drive torque wrench was obviously the wrong tool for the job. I simply made sure that they were snug and not going anywhere. At any rate, the car runs smooth with no problems. Here's a comparo of the pulleys, OEM vs TMS.

Water Pump Pulley


Power Steering Pulley


Alternator Pulley

Though it's hard to say how much power was freed up from the pulleys, the throttle response was improved and I do feel a bit of a stronger pull mid-range. If nothing else, it's a nice modification to have for those that want to keep it naturally aspirated. Overall, the cars revs more freely to red line and I am happy with the results. I've only driven roughly 30 miles with the kit installed, so I can't say much more, but I've been keeping my eye on water temperature to note any difference from OEM. From the limited driving I've done thus far, the temperature seems to jump more than usual pending how aggressive I am with the car. Granted it was pretty hot today (92-95 F), so I'd expect the temperature to fluctuate a bit, but under driving the water pump does make me think in weather like this (slight paranoia). I haven't noticed a difference in steering response or feel, but as I said before, 30 miles of city driving isn't enough for me to formulate a legitimate opinion, so here's to a hot summer and a reliable car


Other things to note: I used DC-111 to lubricate my front springs as I notice spring binding upon inspection. I could hear the binding over bumps at slow speeds and under heavy load in corners. After lubrication and tightening the top drive shaft, the noise is completely gone. Also, the rear shocks had the infamous "clunk" which I solved by, again, tightening the top drive shaft nut. I wonder if this will be an on-going exercise of tightening nuts to maintain noise levels Finally, after letting my rear springs settle with the R.E. spring perches, I finalized my ride height to 13.5"F and 13.0"R. The rear was a half inch low the past month. My current alignment specifications from what I can remember back in February of this year; I'll probably have another alignment before my HPDE in September:

Front:
>Ride Height: 13.5" (measured from the top of the fender to center of wheel hub)
>Camber: -3.3 L /-3.6 R Degrees
>Toe: 0 Degrees Total (if not, slight toe-in)
>Caster: 6.7 L / 6.9 R Degrees (set to full back)

Rear:
>Ride Height: 13.0"
>Camber: -2.3 L / -2.3 R Degrees
>Toe: 1/8" Total Toe-in


My next update will hopefully entail the the Evolve CF airbox. I'm still corresponding with Imran to make sure everything is good to go, so perhaps by mid July I'll be driving with a lion under the hood Also, I'm going to start researching heavily into proper maintenance/detail of car paint, as there's noticeable spider web scratches on the car AND those GoPro cameras look pretty cool, don't they? Thanks for viewing!

[djm3]

Cool! Staying NA takes some hard work. Keep us updated on the long term effects of the pulleys, especially the water pump. I have evosport pulleys sitting in the garage waiting to be installed.

[///M_Achilles]

^ Absolutely! I'm sure there's no side effects, as there's countless others with kit that have a ton more miles, then again, not everybody lives in this very hot southeast region. Having the best college football teams does have its caveats

[Dustyice]

I love your style!!

in for updates! you have your car exactly how I would have wanted mine if I wasent on a budget!

keep it up!

[///M_Achilles]

Originally Posted by Dustyice

I love your style!!

in for updates! you have your car exactly how I would have wanted mine if I wasent on a budget!

keep it up!

Thanks man! 'preciate it

[djm3]

Budget constraints tend to be ignored around here...

[Dizzeep]

Originally Posted by djm3

Cool! Staying NA takes some hard work. Keep us updated on the long term effects of the pulleys, especially the water pump. I have evosport pulleys sitting in the garage waiting to be installed.

I have the TMS power pulley kit installed on my car and living in Austin summers get really hot (le sigh). I have noticed that on especially hot humid days (97 degrees Fahrenheit or higher) when going up hills (around 55-80 mph) my coolant temp gauge starts moving to the right near the second white dot.

I have the OBC digital readout of the coolant temp and it has gotten as high as 100 degrees Celsius (only once last summer). Mostly it goes up to 98-99 and after the hill it goes back down to the middle and normal temps (93-96 degrees Celsius).

This worried me so I asked Don and he said it might have something to do with under-diving the water pump. Anyways just thought I would share my info and experience. Hopefully my coolant temp wont go higher than 100 as it gets hotter here in Austin as the summer progresses

Edit: I also in the summer only have the AC on the lowest setting to prevent from heating the coolant too much. If it gets too hot for my liking I roll down the windows and drive

I would recommend you to have the digital OBC of the coolant temp on really hot days. Anything 100 or below is normal operating temp no matter if your coolant gauge fluctuates or not AFAIK.

[flipm3]

Eeep. That worries me a little as well. I have the VAC Motorsports Ultra Light Under Drive Pulleys. I'm not sure if they're even lighter than any other under drive pulley, but hopefully I don't run into too high of water temps.

[Dizzeep]

Originally Posted by flipm3

Eeep. That worries me a little as well. I have the VAC Motorsports Ultra Light Under Drive Pulleys. I'm not sure if they're even lighter than any other under drive pulley, but hopefully I don't run into too high of water temps.

Living in Chicago I think you will be fine .

As I said if you are worried get the digital OBC readout and according to Don anything 100 or below is fine for the coolant temp. This really only happens to me when going uphills as some parts of Austin have hills.

Chicago does not have any if I recall (been a few years since I been there lol)

[flipm3]

Originally Posted by Dizzeep

Living in Chicago I think you will be fine .

As I said if you are worried get the digital OBC readout and according to Don anything 100 or below is fine for the coolant temp. This really only happens to me when going uphills as some parts of Austin have hills.

Chicago does not have any if I recall (been a few years since I been there lol)

Haha, yeah, it's quite a bit flat to say the least...

I actually have thought about eventually getting some Defi or Stack gauges for Oil Temp, Water Temp, and some 3rd gauge that I haven't decided.

I should probably look into how to get the digital OBC readout...not quire sure how to do that.