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As you may have read on this forum, I've broke 2 waterpump pulleys in just 200 miles after Novi 1500 installation on my C5. My installer is in the process of installing a custom aluminum pulley on my new oem waterpump right now, so that should be a fix. As I've understood, next thing that will brake is the PS pulley. My question is; is it just as likely to brake as the WP pulley? I have maybe a month left in this season and would like to get as many miles as possible in the car and then do the PS pulley through winter. But if it's very likely that I will be stranded along the road again, I will not risk it and do the pulley at once.
I've tried to search the interweb, but I do not find conclusive answers on how big the work on the pullley swap is. Do you need to remove the bracket/pump or can you swap the pulley where it sits? My car has the ABS unit in the back, not in the engine compartment.
Tip to the kit producers like ECS and A&A; make new pulleys for WP and PS as a part of your C5 kits, at least as an option. These cars are getting old, but since many are low milage, many of them are still running original parts....
Last edited by CorvetteC5Norway; 10-02-2017 at 03:20 AM.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
I did mine with the pump on the car and my ebcm is up front, it's a tight fit but doable and should be a tad easier in your case since you won't have to mess with the ebcm... there's really no reason for other companies to make another pulley since the c6 pulley is made of metal, easily available, and cheap... it's around $20 and also has access holes so if you need to remove the pump you won't have to remove the pulley... if you can't get to it right now I wouldn't worry too much, they don't seem to fail too often on the car and usually they are more likely to fail when you remove them and they shatter into pieces
Keep an Idler Pulley on hand if it wasn't changed to their pulley.
Mine is an 04' and they said it didn't need to be changed because the bracket was different then the other years.
Well my second stock one just seized up on the way back from lunch
The factory plastic PS pulley is garbage and should be replaced ASAP since you are placing more stress on it due to the blower.
With the ABS block in the rear it should be very easy for you to remove the pulley and replace with an LS2 corvette pulley. This can all be done without pulley the PS pump.
Keep an Idler Pulley on hand if it wasn't changed to their pulley.
Mine is an 04' and they said it didn't need to be changed because the bracket was different then the other years.
Well my second stock one just seized up on the way back from lunch
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The idler pulley was replaced with the Novi kit, so that should be ok
When I searched for the LS2 pulley on Ebay, this text came up:
quote: NOTE : Power steering pulleys look similar, but are not. Pump shaft diameter and belt alignment are different on just about every pulley. Also, the outside diameter of the pulley and crank pulley is directly related to the output pressure of the pump. Changing outside diameters effects steering! Therefore, pulleys are application specific, and will only work with the listings we have provided.
Just did the PS pulley replacement when I replaced the WP on my wife's 98 procharged Vette. I figured why not no issues but why wait for an issue it was already apart. Replace with a new factory one. Purchased a puller and took like 10 minutes to replace. Removed old one no issues and put new one back on in its place. Lined up front of pulley to front of PS shaft.
Just did the PS pulley replacement when I replaced the WP on my wife's 98 procharged Vette. I figured why not no issues but why wait for an issue it was already apart. Replace with a new factory one. Purchased a puller and took like 10 minutes to replace. Removed old one no issues and put new one back on in its place. Lined up front of pulley to front of PS shaft.
The puller you bought, was it something like this?:
If you do the swap yourself, what about alignment? Do you need a laser tool or is it possible to get in perfect line without?
When I had my blower and replaced the pulley with the LS2 unit I did not need a laser to align the pulley. I just pressed it on until it was flush with the shaft and it worked great.
As you may have read on this forum, I've broke 2 waterpump pulleys in just 200 miles after Novi 1500 installation on my C5. My installer is in the process of installing a custom aluminum pulley on my new oem waterpump right now, so that should be a fix. As I've understood, next thing that will brake is the PS pulley.
Oh, and get rid of that old alternator bracket. It won't last forever...
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
the standard puller/installer will do the trick, you can rent them at most auto parts stores here but not sure how it is in your neck of the woods... absolutely you need to check the alignment with a laser, especially on a supercharged car... what I did was strap my laser to my alternator pulley and aimed it at the power steering pulley and pressed it on until it lined up perfectly... my belts were in alignment beforehand that's why I used the alternator, if you aren't sure then use the balancer as a reference
i bought a kit here in Norway, see picture
the puller I see will work, but the installer (like the upper on the left in the Amazone kit) the thinner threads furthest out will not hook inside the shaft. Is it a wrong kit?
I just went through this with my Procharged 99...WP pulley came apart a few miles from my house...Barely made it home...Now I have to worry about the PS pulley too?...I was dreading fixing this as I had to remove the entire charger/bracket assembly..After questioning my skill level I managed to get everything out and the new pump mounted in 4hrs...Hoping to finish tomorrow..Gotta mount the SC qhead unit,,attach a few hoses,,refill & bleed....
I have never seen a factory power steering pulley slip off, move or break from normal use on a supercharged setup. I think there may be some confusion about which pulley incurs the problems. The area surrounding the idler pulley on the alternator bracket, beneath the power steering pulley is the only remaining concern. The early bracket was an open design where the newer one has that entire corner area filled in from the top. While it's definitely stronger, I've even had issues with the newer bracket, in extreme cases but otherwise the later model bracket is fine. If you have the early bracket, you'll have to remove the power steering pulley just to be able to get the pump bolts out anyway. I'll warn you that I've had some customer cars where the only way to remove the pulley was to break up the plastic bakelight from the steel center hub and then cut the hub off. I've broken the best tools available, including MAC and Matco and part of the Snap On assembly removing PS pulleys. I've also had the tools pull the ring off the pulley hubs. That's the point where I've had to cut them off. It's a delicate procedure to cut deep enough go get the pulley hub off without cutting into the pump shaft. With all that I've been though, I've also had occasions where the pulleys slide right off without any issue.
Bret
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I have never seen a factory power steering pulley slip off, move or break from normal use on a supercharged setup. I think there may be some confusion about which pulley incurs the problems. The area surrounding the idler pulley on the alternator bracket, beneath the power steering pulley is the only remaining concern. The early bracket was an open design where the newer one has that entire corner area filled in from the top. While it's definitely stronger, I've even had issues with the newer bracket, in extreme cases but otherwise the later model bracket is fine. If you have the early bracket, you'll have to remove the power steering pulley just to be able to get the pump bolts out anyway. I'll warn you that I've had some customer cars where the only way to remove the pulley was to break up the plastic bakelight from the steel center hub and then cut the hub off. I've broken the best tools available, including MAC and Matco and part of the Snap On assembly removing PS pulleys. I've also had the tools pull the ring off the pulley hubs. That's the point where I've had to cut them off. It's a delicate procedure to cut deep enough go get the pulley hub off without cutting into the pump shaft. With all that I've been though, I've also had occasions where the pulleys slide right off without any issue
Bret
This is good info to know...I'm gonna check out the Idler and PS pulley tomorrow...After reading this thread I may just go pick up an LS2 pulley and swap that out...I think the previous owner may have swapped out the bracket in my car for a later one....I don't know for sure....Can anyone confirm by this pic?
10-02-2017, 03:16 AM
Waterpump fix - now ps pulley?
