.........Had my belt shread few weeks after installing the underdrive pullies. At first I thought nothing of it until I read a post from another member with the same experience. here is the link. https://mbworld.org/forums/performance-upgrades-tuning/153015-question-about-evosport-underdrive-pulley.html
.........yesterday, my second belt also completely shreaded. I am begining to think that there is something to this. I am going to have the underdrive pullies removed, since in my case I can't tell if it is makes any difference in HP. Not knocking Evosport, but there has to be a way to let fellow members know what to look out for without getting vendors all knotted up. So, if you have the evosport underdrive pullies, you may wish to carry a second belt in your trunk. If you want to get them, then the above is some information you may wish to consider.

Ted

 

Ted,

I sold probably upwards of 750 different pulley sets while at evosport, and the number of complaints that I received for shreaded belts totaled less than what you have experienced on your own car. Have you looked into all of the potential causes?

Were your pulleys installed correctly?
Have you tried remounting them?
Do they appear to have rough/sharp edges?
Are you using the correct belt?
Do you think that perhaps something is wrong with your specific set and perhaps you should look into another?

It's rare, but at some point everyone is destined to throw a belt. The fact that you appear to be doing so quite frequently should encourage you to look into the specific cause rather than assuming that all evosport pulley sets must do this. My guess is that if everything is installed correctly and that you are using the correct belt (brand(s) and size) that you probably have something wrong with one of your specific pulleys and that you should have it replaced.

Ben

 

Dittos!!

Ted, if you have any questions feel free to call me.

Thanks,

 

It sounds like you have a misalignment of the pullies, OR you forgot to tighten something down. I have had the pullies for over 60k on my car, and not one problem!

 

What's up V-Diddy?

 

I have my EVO Underdrive pulleys installed for 16,000km (10,000 mi) and have had no problems. Drove from Edmonton, AB to Miami, FL and back in 22 days (7800 Mi) this Aug. The place that installed them for my said the pulleys were tough to install. I am thinking in all likely hood you have a mis-alignment of one of your pulleys.

 

It is far easier to blame evosport (Ted has a history of this, see the archives) then to actually try to figure out what the issue is. Sad part of forums.

The problem could be a number of issues:

• incorrectly installed pulley
• mechanical failure (or the first sign of) from any of the pumps (shaft starting to wobble)
• failure of a bearing in a pulley (these are not lifetime bearings, and sometimes do fail) <-- warranty in first 2 years
• faulty belt (like any manufactured part, sometimes things fail)
• failure of tensioner (not an evosport part, but OE mercedes)

There could be more, but those are the most common.

Thanks for posting your actual findings and positive results.

Thanks
brad

 

I'm just following Vadim, Brad and Ben.

 

..........your reply is also predictable. You may wish to read my post again to see what part of it consisted of a blame. Like I said, it is impossible to post a less than desirable experiece with an Evosport product without getting the usual response. I uderstand perfectly that others have not had this experience, and yes contrary to your post I have looked at other possible causes. I don't even know or do I claim that the pullies themselves are faulty. Even if the problem came from the installation, this is still something that someone needs to know so that they don't end up stranded somewhere with a broken belt. You guys need thicker skin. As far as installation is concerned, you wish to aknowledge that the pullies come with absolutely no installation instructions. Below is a quote from another member who has also had shreaded belts. Consider also that you guys may not have a true picture of the number people that have trouble with your products due to your predctably aggressive response when someone says anything not to your liking


Question:
#9
OCKlasse
Member


Join Date: May 2006
Location: Irvine, Cali
Vehicle I drive: 98 C230
Posts: 120 Quote:
Originally Posted by blahzayblah
i am about to install my pulley..has there ever been reports of cars breaking down or parts becoming stressed due to the new pulley..i am about to drive cross country and don't want the pulley to jeapordizer it or leave me stranded..of course i would like it installed before i go..so i hope it works good...anyone know

Answer:


My brother has EVOsport pullies on his C43, and on his way back from Arizona (to California) the pulley belt snapped on the 55 and he was left stranded. Not meaning to deface EVO at all, just want to let you know that he did have an issue, and this happened approximately 8,000 miles after the purchase of the pulley. Another belt was purchased from EVO and there have not been any issues since


Ted

 

Ted,

Not overly aggressive at all, but given YOUR history on the board, it is appropriate to post a reply.

If you think it was aggressive, please quote exactly how, as I am a bit lost.

In fact, I did list that one possible fault could be the pulley itself. Surely if we were "aggressive" we would not have admitted this, nor would we have failed to attack you. Notice, there is no personal attack or flame toward you at all.

Second, if we truly made it "impossible" then we would have simply deleted your post. We are obliged like any other sponsor to reply to posts that incorrectly defame our company and products.

Yes, ANYONE should know that you should carry belts. Should I go on the BMW forums and post hoe my 5K mile old M3 threw a factory belt once and blame BMW and make sure everyone knows about it? NO. Yes, you had a problem, but blaming or even alluding that a vendor is responsible without any fact is a bit irresponsible.

If you are simply providing information, why did you not also state the name of the installer and warn people that they should be careful using that shop?

Thanks
Brad

 

............You have actually deleted such posts before. The shop that installed the pulley is not to blame because we were unable to get installation instructions even after I called following the delivery of the pullies. I was told no installation were available. I spoke with Mike.

...........As far as being irresponsible, forgive me sir, I think it will be irresponsible not to post it and have it happen to another forum member. As you can see from another member's post, he too has had a family member stranded. What is funny is that this could be all due to installation errors, but in that case you'll think that installation instructions will be provided or the product will be sold only to authorized dealers. I am not sure what your displeasure is. You would rather everyone keeps quiet and drive around with an extra belt. I dissagree.

Ted

 

Ted I'll be in Atlanta 3rd thru the Morning of the 5th. If you would like, I would look and see if anything appears out of alginment. Just an outside opinion. Hope to see & meet you There. ___PTE___

 

................thanks for offer. Looking forward to meeting you. By the way the 160 degree thermostat I got from you works great.

Ted

 

Ted,

Of course my response was predictable. It is a well known fact that I troll the forums for douchebags posting in order to bring them down to earth while attempting to help them come up with possible conclusions. You posted, the above criteria was met, and thus my predicted response was written.

What you failed to note is that Vadim, Brad and myself represent 3 different parties; only 1 of which belongs to evosport. Additionally, I offered many potential sources of the problem which included (and I'll quote in case your comprehension is similiar to that of Linh) "Do you think that perhaps something is wrong with your specific set and perhaps you should look into another?"

Perhaps you're aggrevation is predictable. Not one of 40,000+ members chimed in to say that not only are you right but you also saved them from making a big mistake. Was this not the outcome that you predicted?

Also, there is a noteable difference between the tone that you post in and that of which the C55 member posted. Your post came across as a caution whereas the C55 member posted without emotion and added that he has not had a problem since.

Let me break it down for you 1 more time to hopefully avoid any unnecessary confusion.

1. Belts can break. Typically, this happens either quickly after installation or after 10's of thousands of miles. One is associated with wear and tear whereas a quick break is typically either a bad/improper belt or a bad/misaligned pulley.

2. Any part in the world can be defective. Pulleys are precision-cut out of metal. While rare, it is possible to have rough/sharp edges or improper size/dimensions/whateverelsecouldgowrong. Brad, Vadim (through the use of "ditto") and myself all mentioned that you could have a bad pulley. It's not by any means common, and I personally am not aware of this ever happening on an UD kit, HOWEVER nothing can go forever without a small percentage of error. YOU MAY HAVE A BAD PULLEY (I capitalized this so that you will hopefully not accuse anyone of avoiding the issue. If bold/italics is needed please comment below).

3. Installations can go 2-ways. They are either done right or done wrong. If the pulleys are not defective (which unforunately bickering on a message board can not determine) then chances are the installation may have been done wrong. I don't write this to call your installer an idiot (ok, ok.... I probably will later in this post), but it is possible that something was overlooked.

4. Evosport does not provide installation instructions with their pulleys. This is to prevent asshats from taking apart their $40,000-$120,000 car in their driveway and then calling to complain when they can't put it back together. Additionally, the correct pulley-puller costs about the same price of the pulleys themselves! Most shops have pulley-pullers and the few that don't unfortunately wind up taking apart the power steering pump and spending 8 hours reassembling (this would be where I call any shop an idiot if they did this). The pulleys are designed to be an easy installation for a qualified mechanic. Do you do your own maintenance on your Mercedes? If no, then what the heck makes you qualified to install the pulleys? As a doctor, how would you react if a patient asked you for instructions so that they could perform their own surgeries and save a few pennies?

5. Carrying a replacement belt is not a bad idea, but you are still going to have to find someone to put it on for you if the slim chance arrises that you ever need it. But while we're on the topic of extremely rare occurrances, perhaps you should carry a spare airbag, battery, spark plugs, bulbs and heck... an extra motor in the trunk. I've heard more cases of people needing those than belts.

6. I recall 2-3 seperate occassions while at evosport where both you and the shop you dealt with were displeased with evo/me and swore to stay away from us in the future. Why do you keep going back to them if they are so bad? You're like a battered woman in a bad relationship. Get some counseling and move on.

7. Who would have a "truer picture" regarding their own defective products: evosport or You? When people call for customer service at evosport do you answer the phone? Perhaps you were hired by them to perform internal and external audits on the reliability of their products so that they can meet six sigma standards. Please correct me if this is the case.

8. Please reread my second sentence. My panties are not in a bunch and if anything, this post is only calming my blood pressure. I am not affected by whether your post keeps evosport from ever selling another kit or doubles their profits. I only posted because the context of your post, combined with my knowledge of past experiences with you, made me feel that as a neutral-party with extensive experience I could be of help by providing both you with answers and readers with facts.

Game, Set & Match

 

................I haven't read your post entirely because I am a bit suprised at your first paragraph. I thought you gave a rather reasonable response the first time and I didn't think your worked for Evosport anymore. I responded to Brad's post instead. Now you have taken it to a entirely new level with name calling like douche bag. I think you must be working for Evosport again.

Ordinarily a moderator will ban someone that calls the other a douche bag. Considering where it is coming from, I don't think you will be banned. I think you are making my point.

It maybe hard for you to see, but there members reading your comments who will be intimidated from ever saying anything that is not to Evosports liking. I am sure that is the result you hope to achieve. Wellcome back to Evosport.

...........I am going to re-post my original comments. I still don't understand what exactly was untrue or unfair or irresponsible. Here it is. And if something like this can generate such a response from Evosport including name calling, you can only imagine how intimidated other frorum members might be. While it is perfectly fine for Evosport and other registered vendors to use the foirum to sell products, it is entirely possible that some members use the forum to share information.......yes even information you don't like.

.........Had my belt shread few weeks after installing the underdrive pullies. At first I thought nothing of it until I read a post from another member with the same experience. here is the link. https://mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=153015
.........yesterday, my second belt also completely shreaded. I am begining to think that there is something to this. I am going to have the underdrive pullies removed, since in my case I can't tell if it is makes any difference in HP. Not knocking Evosport, but there has to be a way to let fellow members know what to look out for without getting vendors all knotted up. So, if you have the evosport underdrive pullies, you may wish to carry a second belt in your trunk. If you want to get them, then the above is some information you may wish to consider.

Ted

 

Perhaps there were additional parts of my post that I should have capitalized/bolded/etc. I'll try it this time with smilies around it as I prefer them to asteriks.

I DO NOT WORK FOR EVOSPORT

Also Ted, I am not aware of any member ever being banned without warning for calling someone a douchebag. Thus, I will go ahead and warn myself to save the moderators time. I am now warned for saying that you are a douchebag. I'm probably going to have to give myself a second warning too, as lets face it... If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

And don't think for a second that you can post 2 negative events followed by a removal of product without expecting factual replies. Afterall, you want to share the complete truth, do you not? So of the 42,053 members, what makes you the representative for all those who are afraid to speak the truth? I'd think in an environment where people's identities are hidden most would not be afraid nor feel restraint.

Like I said, I am no longer influenced by evosport's success. I'm posting because underdrive pulleys are hands-down the best low-cost upgrade with the least risk to the longevity of the car. If someone else had the brains to make a set for the mercedes over the last 4 years, I'd say on their behalf as well. Have a nice day.

 

Ted - Find out what is causing the problem and get it fixed. You will be very happy that you left the pulleys on. I purchased the Renntech Pulley and ECU package and had problems at first too. My car was not acting right and at times it seemed to have less power. I called Renntech and was advised to take the car back to the dealership for inspection. Everything was checked and I was sent on my way. At this point I was upset that I had a car that I was afraid to drive. Long story short, I had my ECU re-flashed and now the problem is gone and the car is wicked fast...I don't blame Renntech because they screwed up my ECU. Accidents happen and as long as you can get it fixed with the support of those who sold you the product, then there is no harm done. Obviously, there are people here who have offered to help you find the cause of your problem, some of them are / have been involved with Evosport. This to me shows their great customer service. On a side note, I did not see anything wrong with your first post, nor did I think you were bashing Evosport.

 

Thank you for adding your insight on this Jerry. I agree with your comments on determining the problem and attempting to fix it/them. In regards your interpretation of Ted's post as being neutral, I encourage you to search the boards for "evosport" under Ted's user name. That plus the harrassing messages that I received from Ted while working at evosport (yelling "Mr. Ben" repeatedly) made me classify his post as just another Ted Baldwin rant.

In the spirit of searching for previous posts, I did find this one made last month by Ted:

Ted, when your mechanic chose to put on a different belt did you notify evosport? Did you verify whether you had the belt that were supposed to be included in the kit? If so, do you think perhaps the correct pulleys and belt combination was not installed correctly; leading to them installing an incorrect belt? After the first belt broke (which you apparrently did not purchase from evosport), did you put a belt from evosport on or did you go with your shop's suggested belt again? Do you think that perhaps you held back some information from your first post?

Just the facts please,

Ben

 

Well with this information coming to light, I think that this issue is effectively closed. I would CERTAINLY recommend to any customer (of our products or anyone's) to proactively communicate DIRECT to the manufacture with any issue or concern. Also, it is pretty important to use ALL the parts supplied in a kit when you buy something for your vehicle (unless you are directed that something is optional of course).

To those that PM'ed me and also posted support here, thanks again!

Brad

 

OK I have A QUESTION:

I was thinking of buying a used kit from a fourm member. Just in case should i order a brand new belt and install that rather then using someone elses old one and just keep it "IN CASE"
1.)
Will a Underdrive Evosport pulley kit with belt from a ML 320 fit on an ML 55 ??? V6 - V8 AMG ????
I was told YES by Dale a general questions guy at Evosport and NO by some other sales guy at the same company. This was all over the phone, Dale assured me that they would fit and that there basically the same engine. What are your guys thought? Should I buy it? thanks.

 

Unless something has changed since I was there in '04, the same belt will work. Chances are, the belt currently being used would be fine to reuse on your car (This is of course assuming that your 55 is not a kompressor model). But since a belt is such a minimal expense, I'd recommend purchasing a new one for peace of mind and added longevity.

 

 

I'm going to take a stab at this one with less-than limited knowledge on any 06 Mercedes (I've been out of the industry for a couple years now).

If I recall correctly based on my mom's SL500, some of the pulleys (apparrently it was the water pump, I don't recall) may have been built into-the unit. Assuming that the other pulleys fit, (I don't recall) they may not all be larger or all be lighter, but a combination of both amongst the set. Each pulley was designed to be an improvement over stock. Thus, put the ones on that work and ask to return the one that doesn't. Problem solved.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why people are so quick to bash a product that provides a low-cost HP upgrade yet will spend thousands for minimal HP with no questions asked. I'm probably the only member of this forum who can evaluate the underdrive pulleys from 3 basis points.

1. Sales - I've sold hundreds of evo pulley kits
2. Customer - I was also a customer (in the sense that I had, and on some cars still do, their underdrive pulleys).
3. Past Employment - Knowing everything I have from while working at evosport and since moving forward in my career, I am able to recommend the pulleys with full-confidence.

There has to be some reason why so many BMW 'tuners' (and likely Mercedes as well) try to imitate their pulleys.

Just my two cents.
Ben