A couple of days ago I posted a potential leakage problem after installing the ASP pulley:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=18806

Now it is confirmed that the leak does indeed come from the crank shaft: there are obvious drips from the shaft. But not major leak because the pulley has been on for 10 days and the engine oil level is still at max.

I took off the ASP pulley and carefully inspected for any damage to the seal during the installation, but did not find anything and the seal is in perfect condition.

More interesting was that when I put back the stock pulley and ran the car for 10min, there was no sign of any leakage... I don't know why the ASP pulley would cause the leak but not the stock pulley. Maybe the key hole of the ASP pulley is slightly off so that it kinda pushed the key to rip open the seal a little bit??

I will let the stock pulley on and drive the car as usual tomorrow to see if there is any leak. If there is then the dealer is going to take care of it . But if not then I really don't know what happened .

In addition, the ASP pulley seems to be a bit too large: it makes the new belt to rub against the coolant pump pulley. I saw the rubbing marks on the coolant pump pulley and the new belt is almost touching it, so a little bit of vibration can bring the belt to rub against the pulley.

 

What brand belt are you using? Maybe it's a little thicker. I know it's a tight fit but the Dayco Pep Boys belt I got doesn't rub, no marks after 4,000 miles. Call Lee up at ASP and ask about the leak, they may have an answer. Haven't had the problem myself.

 

The belt that I'm using is the Dayco heavy duty belt I bought from Pep Boys for $17.99. I guess this is the same as yours.

Not sure about the leak yet, have to see what the stock pulley gives tomorow.

 

dont think it is becos of the belt..
i think it is i becos of the connector (the round hollow thing)

i went to rb tech..and the boss tell me that they have to machine polish it or else a leakage might occur...

guess hes right

 

Do you mean the steel ring/collar attached to the end of the pulley? If so that might mean the original machining was not smooth enough so it damaged the seal.

I'm not saying the belt caused the leakage. I mean the belt rubs against the coolant pump pulley only. I'll call Lee and see if he can make the pulley slightly smaller to yield more clearance.

I just arrive at work and checked the drain hole and it is wet with a couple short lines of oil mark. Guess it's time to call my MB advisor for an investigation.

 

The seal is around the outer part of the steel ring, not on the edge. That edge where the steel meets the alloy by the shaft does not touch anything stationary. Don't know what Xeon is reffering to.

 

Just to show you because it's dark in there and hard to visualize. The pulley pushes in until it hits a lip on the crankshaft, this spins together with the pulley so it doesn't rub or wear anything out. Only the outer edge where the smooth steel sleeve is touches the seal.

 

Great photo! Just wondering... if an unwrapped flat crowbar is used to help persuade the stock pulley to come off, is there a chance that the fulcrum point would be on the edge of the seal, or that the crowbar might in some other way damage it? From the photo it looks as if that might be a risk.

 

Quite possible but I didn't have that problem on 2 cars that we did pulleys twice on each (one ASP and one Kleemann). I'll guess we'll see what happens when MB fixes the oil leak.

 

Hey Buell, when I look at the shaft the keyway assembly looks like the pic below, am I correct? i.e., the key is in a wedge shape. And, I don't seem to be able to remove the key (I tried to pry it using a screwdrive) does it mean the key is welded/press fit onto the shaft? And the key is positioned all the way to the back of the slot, which leaves a significant gap on the outer end of the slot.

 

Might be but when I inspected the seal last night it was OK. When I ran the engine for 10min under no load there was no leak either. It leaks when it is under load (I drove it to work and it leaked).

Anyway, I will bring the car in for service and see what's going on.
Thanks for the attention.

 

Whatever you do, do not remove this key. I know someone that has and had to take much of the engine apart to get it back in. It's fairly long and you are only seeing a very small part. It's hollow and soft and can be damaged if you pry at it. Yes, the key is wedge shaped as in the picture and it starts a little bit after the edge of the crankshaft.

 

I once had a leaking crank seal on a 60's Ferrari V12. The seal looked perfect from the outside and did not leak unless the engine was revved up. Very frustrating it was. Point is, seals can look OK but still leak. Too bad there is not enough room to use a puller on the stock pulley.

I guess we are waiting to hear the dealer's response?

 

OH! I actually just poke at it using a screwdriver and it doesn't look loose enough so I gave up.

 

OK! Finally I made an appointment to bring my car in on Friday and was told that it will be ready on next Tuesday or so.
I'll post the results when I get the car back.

 

I hope the dealership does not figure out about the new pulley (like finding scratch marks on the bolt, old pulley, engine housing you know what I mean), it might be a problem getting them to warranty it???????????

 

Arrrh! There is indeed rubbing marks on the coolant pump pulley. Hope they don't see it, or should I go buy a new pulley and put it on before bringing the car in?

 

Do you check if your ASP pulley rubs against the coolant pump pulley?

I called the part dept, the coolant pump pulley is $28. But they questioned about my usage and insist on getting my car's VIN before they can order it. I think it is not a good idea to do so since it will be very suspicious to buy this pulley and then take the car in a day later claiming don't know what's wrong with the leak.

 

And CRAP I think my statement about oil marks indicating leaks even with the stock pulley was wrong. I just took off the cover pan but did NOT find any leaks... I will shut up from now on and check again tomorrow night. If there is still no leaks what should I tell the advisor when I bring the car in on Friday?

 

My water pump pulley has a nice stripe where paint used to be. It's from the original prototype pulley before it was cut to size. They never said anything about it. If it doesn't leak then don't bring it in.

 

Sorry about opening up a can of worms however I know for a fact that the mechanics are not stupid, they are somewhat smart.

 

Yes I'm indeed worry about they'll find out something caused by me. But I'll check for a leak one more time tomorrow to really confirm it.

Now the question is: if the factory pulley doesn't cause leakage but the ASP pulley does, what's the story behind this? Since no other people has ASP pulley ever reported the belt rubbing the CP pulley, I suspect that it is my pulley a little bit oversized so it rubs on the CP pulley and this creates an imbalanced force on the crank shaft and hence causes the small leakage of engine oil. I tried to rub the shaft seal with my finger and there was indeed some engine oil coming out as a result of my action.

Hey Buell if I call Lee and ask to remachine the pulley to a bit smaller will he able to do so?

 

Sorry to chime in on such note, but your open discussion of your problems and fears along with sufficient info about your car, modifications, location and dealer visit dates may tip them off better than any physical evidence, don't you think? Chances are high ehough that MB dealers personnel visit this forum. MBUSA people definitely do.

 

There is the possibility that the ASP pulley is out of round. I don't know how likely this would be, seeing as how I don't know their manufacturing techniques, but and out of round pulley would cause your leak. It will also cause alot more damage internally than that. I would yank that pulley off of there, get your money back and order a KLEEMANN pulley You can also take your pulley to a machine shop and have them check the run-out. It doesn't take much to cause problems, especially seeing as how the pulley is on the crankshaft. I would get this taken care of before you use it again. You are risking the potential for major internal engine damage. You don't want to pay $10,000 for a new short block because your $400 over-boost pulley was out of round do you? Just my two cents

 

I checked the roundness up against a Kleemann pulley with calipers and found that the ASP pulley was indeed closer or as close to tollerances than the other pulley. On the otherhand it is possible for any pulley to be damaged during shipping without showing obvious signs of such.