Ok so, I installed my 15% reduction pulley, the car was making around 16-17psi. And I drove it like that for 2 weeks. Now driving today I noticed that I was only making like 14 and the higher RPM's the boost would fall off a little, but not everytime. And if I drive the car hard, sometimes I smell slight hints of burnt rubber. So Im thinking its a slipping belt, I talked with my friend who also has a mini, and he said his car did the same thing before his crank pulley broke. So what would your guess be everyone? Just a slipping belt, or something more. I did get a smaller belt when I replaced the pulley, but maybe I didnt get a small enough one? Thanks for the help everyone!

 

Is the tensioner showing at least a half-hole? The belt tensioner has a flat metal rod that protrudes out of the center of the main spring. It's end is twisted 90º and it is stamped with a series of holes. Any less than one half hole showing means the belt is stretched. A new belt should show an entire hole and then some.

What size was the belt? I use a K060535 size. It is one that is smaller than what some pulley makers used to recommend, but is now the commonly accepted size for 15% pulleys.

Are your intercooler bellows stock? Those can sometimes go bad with age.

 

My guess is your ic couplers. take off the ic diverter, and you'll likely find what i did, which was a broken intake coupler. Not sure how long the car had been run that way, but it was like that when i bought it. First thing i got for my mini was some silicon alta IC couplers. The new couplers made the car tons faster, and really a lot smoother, so it could be from that. The burning rubber makes me think its from either a slipping belt or a broken crank pulley, as you've said, these are very common problems. did you have the pulley installed, or did you do it yourself? If you want to check the pulley, just take off the pass. side wheel and wheel well and look at it, it should be obvious if it's broken. If its a slipping belt, double check that it's the right size belt. If it is, try and find the culprit. It's likely to be something to do with the tensioner in that case. Or it could be the supercharger pulley is out of alignment... I'm not sure what pulley you used, but the inner pulley should slide onto the s/c shaft all the way till it stops(for most of them). I know how much of a pain it is to get that inner hub on there though, i did the pulley install last weekend. If thats not the problem, could maybe be a vaccum line being broken... maybe you forgot to put one of the vaccum lines back right, and it fell to the header and melted... not very probable, at all, but could be possible... Hope something works for you.

 

Im going to look at the crank pulley this weekend. Hopefully thats not the case :( If that looks ok, I will get a belt

 

if you smell burnt rubber check the crank pulley

We have a true FLUID DAMPER that will NEVER need to come off again. It dampens better too. $285 and cheaper than the factory one for $400

 

RMW-More than likely I will be intouch with you this weekend! Would that fluid damper be better than say s 2% reduction pulley? I want to try and keep it as reliable as possible for now.

 

I don't believe in non dampened crank pulley's. Ours is the ONLY one that will NEVER need servicing. Even the ATI's need to be "rebuilt" over time

Having built many race tested engines I can tell you the ones running the stock crank pulley's have way more bearing material worn away than one with our fluid damper. I have had 6 engines come in with aftermarket NON dampened crank pullies that BROKE the OIL PUMP. I have yet to see this happen with a stock damper OR aftermarket one. (now patiently waiting for the aluminum crank pulley guys to come and say mine hasn't broken)

 

Rev-where is that pulley on you site. Ican't seem to find it there.

 

check the R53 site now
My website guy just put it up

 

Awesome! I'm checking the car tomorrow morning, and most likely I will be buying one tomorrow. Thanks for the help

 

UPDATE! So I went to my friends house today(who also has a mini) for a superbowl party, earlier in the day we looked at my car and noticed that the belt had slipped off a rib. So we slid it back on, and I drove it home, I took it very easy barely making boost. I just got home, opened to hood and it was off again

So now Im thinking, When I installed the pulley we never slid the hub on all the way, according to a post on here you should leave an 8th inch gap...Im starting to think that was false. SO if I take tension off the belt and loose the bolts holding the pulley to the hub and slide it on the rest of the way and slap the belt back on, will this fix my problem? Also we looked at the crank pulley and didnt see anything out of the ordinary, no rubber shavings or anything crazy like that. Thanks for any and all help once again!

 

You need a different belt with the 15% pulley. If you are still using the stock one, it is too big. Check the pulley is on correct and put on a correct sized belt. (size given in post earlier)

 

I did put a smaller belt on, The auto store near me couldnt get the exact size so I think I went just a hair bigger, But Im thinking it might have stretched a little on me, So I will be ordering a new belt with the correct size and trying it again!

 

Seat the supercharger pulley hub firmly and re-secure. Get a new belt too. After that run the engine to confirm drive belt alignment.

Jeremy

 

Also does 17psi sounds about right for boost? Becuase thats what I would see before the belt stretched(assuming thats what happened). It was normally like 16 but would pull close to 17 in higher rpms.

 

At lower altitude, yes 16-18psi is normal on a tapped boost gauge with a 15-16%. Air dencity also has a lot to do with it.