If you have u/d pulleys and have having problems, please chime in

WhiteStallionGT

Member

Aug 19, 2004

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Northern VA / VT

Dec 20, 2005

#1

• Dec 20, 2005

• #1

If you have u/d pulleys and are having problems, please chime in

Hey guys, I've had my pulleys since April. I've never gotten the chance to fix the little problems they have given me since install.

Problems:

- Windshield wipers don't work when lights are on, you have to turn on the highbeams then they will work.

- Head Lights will dim when stopped.

Well yesterday I was in stop and go traffic for about an hour... well my Anti-Lock light goes on out of nowhere and 5 min. later... the car dies. So yeah, there I was blocking traffic in my dead mustang. I had to push it into a parking lot, gladly a good samaritan helped me out pushing it up a slight incline. (damn these things are heavy as ****). Well my dad ends up coming and giving my car a jump start. Problem solved.

My question is, is my battery dying or are my pulleys f'ng up with my alternator. What would be the best way to fix this?

Thanks

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

31,179

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Dec 20, 2005

#2

• Dec 20, 2005

• #2

U/D's can affect charging. Under 12.6 volts and you are discharging. And when the battery gets ready to crap out, systems will start shutting down.

And the puter can start shutting down non-essential systems to conserve power.

I would check out the entire charging system before driving it.

The MF switch might be having a short of sorts with the wipers and low/high beams.

Good luck.

 

WhiteStallionGT

Member

Aug 19, 2004

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Northern VA / VT

Dec 20, 2005

#3

• Dec 20, 2005

• #3

Thanks man.

Would replacing the small alternator pulley with the original one also fix things?

 

95opal

5 Year Member

Nov 16, 2004

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39

Dec 20, 2005

#4

• Dec 20, 2005

• #4

yes putting the stock pullie back on will or shall i say should help you out w/ the charging issue.then again i can say how was the condition of your battery and charging (ie.. alt..ect..)system before the swap or currently. AS for the wiper issue i would look at that seperately from the charging issues. good luck

 

8

8950HO

New Member

Mar 31, 2005

658

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Dec 20, 2005

#5

• Dec 20, 2005

• #5

Since your car is a 94,you already have a 130amp alternator.
Get an overdrive alternator pulley,1-7/8",from Auto Specialties,www.aspracing.com this should solve the problem.

 

CManT1914

New Member

Feb 5, 2004

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Killeen, Texas

Dec 20, 2005

#6

• Dec 20, 2005

• #6

I had to swap back to the stock alternator pulley because I was slowly draining my batteries. I had to replace one about every 6 months. Now I have the u/d pulley back on, but with a slightly higher idle speed, and a 200amp alternator, so it's not so much of an issue anymore.

The wipers has gotta be seperate. In my brother's old truck, (94 F150), his wipers wouldn't work with his blinker on. It's probably the switch, that thing controls like 9285234 different things. Mine went out and the turn signals stopped working. I'd look at it first.

 

BlackVert

15 Year Member

Oct 3, 2003

5,589

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98

Bethesda, MD

Dec 20, 2005

#7

• Dec 20, 2005

• #7

i have the bbk pulleys, never any problems

 

95 Laser GT Ver

New Member

Mar 7, 2004

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Orange County, CA.

Dec 20, 2005

#8

• Dec 20, 2005

• #8

You can also try replacing the poor excuse for a ground strap that goes between the motor mount and frame. I swapped mine with some 6ga wire and that worked really well.

 

BDAWK2002

New Member

Apr 28, 2005

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Old Bridge N.J.

Dec 21, 2005

#9

• Dec 21, 2005

• #9

Does your car have an AODE?Before I did my tranny swap I tried using pulley's with the auto and had the same problem.I tried new batteries,power cable from the alt. new battery cables and a new alt..nothing worked the car kept discharging and dying out.Every time it died I had to jump it.I even paid Laroccas to try and figure it out and they told me some cars just wont run with u/d pulleys and I had to put my stockers back on.The pulleys work fine with the TKO though.....

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Dec 21, 2005

#10

• Dec 21, 2005

• #10

BDawk brings up a good point. The stick guys can run a higher idle than an auto should.

I did not venture the same thoughts with the SN's, but with the fox guys, it seems to really depend upon the car. Just a hair bump or difference in idle speed (which can result simply from a timing adjustment) can make a difference.

Good luck.

 

Swarzkopf

Member

Sep 23, 2004

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Pittsburgh

Dec 21, 2005

#11

• Dec 21, 2005

• #11

This is what's always scared me away from underdrive pulleys- well, this and the cooling issues they can create as well.

Thanks for the information, it seems lots of guys pretend that the pulleys aren't causing problems when they are.

I'm not saying that everyone running underdrives has problems; just that there is a good chance you'll have issues with them.

 

final5-0

Mustang Master

Apr 6, 2003

6,817

12

79

DFW Texas

Dec 21, 2005

#12

• Dec 21, 2005

• #12

Most of the peeps I've seen talk about pulleys say at night, they can see the lights dim just a slight amount at idle. Having said that, if anything is not quite right with your electrical/charging system ...
I guess it is possible you may see a prob develope.

Bottom line is ...... everything is turned slower to free up some hp.

Same things could be said about the cooling system as well.

Since you don't get a huge gain from pulleys anyway, I would think if you didn't underdrive everything ... the gain would be so small ... might not be worth the effort of running them.

I've been running them for years with no probs.

Grady

 

WhiteStallionGT

Member

Aug 19, 2004

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Northern VA / VT

Dec 21, 2005

#13

• Dec 21, 2005

• #13

Thanks for all the help guys.

Yeah, the car is an auto. My best bet is to just replace that alternator pulley.

 

Kevin R.

New Member

Jun 3, 2004

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Ohio

Dec 21, 2005

#14

• Dec 21, 2005

• #14

Yupp, have the same problem running AODE with pulleys. I just got the 3 year battery warranty, let it die!