Unorthodox pulleys problem
 

I've had the unorthodox pulleys for about 2 months now, for some reason out of the blue i started to hear a screeching noise when i did cold starts, it went away as soon as the car warmed up so i thought nothing of it... then one day it was pretty loud screeching and i hear a loud ass POP and my Check battery light cam on along with the check engine light was blinking i lost power steering too. turns out my alternator froze up which caused the belt to break and so on. So i went to napa bought a new alternator had it installed by Mazda and everything was good, but now that damn noise came back and i'm not about to go through the whole 478$ again. what i'm getting at is does anyone know why the unorthodox pulleys would do this? maybe not installed right? it has to be the crank pulley because the alternator pulley is not installed on my new alternator. and help would be great.

also i'm thinking of just switching to AP crank pulley instead has anyone had a problem here?

Only thing I can think of is that you have too much tension on the belt.
I have the AP pulley so I'm not familiar with the Unorthodox, but your alternator "freezing" and your belt breaking does sound like a tensioner adjustment issue (or at least a starting point).

it is possible that i can adjust the tension my self or it that out of the question?

it is probably the belts being to loose or too warm, or just not broken in yet to the cold. i have had mine on for 2 weeks, and for the first week there was not schreeching, but this week, since it cooled down a LOT i think it is just the belts warming up.

mazurfer and staticlag are experts when it comes to the pulleys

btw, it doesnt have anything to do with the crank pulley

did you install them yourself? use this https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...9&postcount=34

this problem only happens when its a cold start or really cold outside, i thought it would have to do with the crank pulley due to the fact its the one thats spinning them all.

yea, thats the reason. the belt isnt broken into the cold yet. each day i drive it when it is cold, the schreeching goes down. there isnt a problem with the crankpulley

alright cool, i just tightened the belt it seemed a little loose lets hope the problem goes away now thanks for the help bro much appreciated

not a prob. even if it does still squeek, dont worry about it unless the squeeking gets longer. it should break in and it will squeek less and less each day

Being in Florida, I don't have to worry abouot cold too much, but squeeking can actually be caused by belts being too loose because they could be slipping a little bit.
For your first experience..... a loose belt can't cause the alternator pulley to seize up, and it's highly unlikely that a too tight one would cause it either. I think you just had a bad alternator..........nothing more.
Now...2nd experience, I think you belts may be loose or the belt just needs to have some time on it. Make sure the belt is tight......no more that about 1/2 inch deflection when you push on it between pulleys. Some people do this by trying to twist the belt inbetween pulleys and see if they can twist it no more than 90 degrees. I prefer the 1/2 inch rule.


Don't forget:

After 100 miles or so recheck the belts for tightness and to make sure the crank pulley bolts are still there.


Dave

i went to go re-torque my bolts today, so i put the car in 2nd gear. but when i went to tighten them, the crankpulley just kept spinning, not easily, but it still went around. i was like WTF? quit it you jerk. sorry :lol2:

Hows the alignment? I assume you removed the alternator pulley to install the kit. Check to be sure there is no uneven wear on one side of the old snapped belt.

What did you use to take off the alternator bolt the first time?

It might have just been a faulty belt, stuff like that does happen, but might as well make sure it isn't an install issue.

Yeah after tightening the belts today there was no noise, when my alternator seized up the first time i just let the noise happen then slowly go away that probably caused the alternator to seize up or i dont know but now its all good thanks for all the input every one it really helped.

So everything is all good now with those Unorthodox pulleys??? I'm going to swap out my stock ones with them soon. But if they're no good then.

5yr bump. ive been running the unorthodox pullies for a few years

Me as well......at least five years...........no issues.

There should never be a "breaking into the cold" type of issue with belts. If it's squeeling, your tension isn't right. Fix it, and the sound will go away.

Does anyone know the belt size/serial number for the alt pulley?

People....WARNING.....read....... --> These are belt sizes for the UR pulley set NOT stock!



• Alternator & Water Pump: Gates K050316 (32.25” or 820MM)
• Air Conditioning: Gates K040292 (29.75” or 755MM)