Alternator Pulley sheared off!?!

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by jpdal

Was driving my '00 boxster today when i lost my power steering and both the ABS and battery light came on. luckily i was close to home. Did some quick research, it seemed like it was just a serpentine belt that needed to be replaced.

Open up the back compartment to put a new belt in and saw that the belt slipped off and it seemed like it was in good condition. I inspected the pulleys and saw that my alternator pulley had sheared off!? A part of the pulley is still connected to the shaft it seems.

Here are some pictures:

https://imgur.com/gallery/3EqtE


Is this normal? I've looked throughout the forums and haven't seem a similar occurrence happen? Should i replace the alternator as well?

Thanks in advance!

That pulley is completely normal. It is a declutching style pulley, the only thing missing is the snap on plastic from cover, which is decorative:


If the alternator is not making ratcheting sounds, put a new belt on it and you are done.

[Quadcammer]

Originally Posted by Geof3

Um, no. That is not normal. But, from the looks of it, that thing was rusted badly. I can't believe it wasn't making some crazy howling noises. All the red stuff is rust. That pully was seized. The $100,000,000 question is why was it so rusty in the first place? That requires moisture, which there shouldn't be much of in that part of the engine compartment. If I were you, replace the alt and EVERY other rotating thing on the engine, to include the water pump, idler pullies, even possibly the power steering pump. It is possible every one of these items has rust, which is bad. At the very least, closely inspect all of these for ANY sign of rust and replace as necessary.

You seemingly have no clue what you're talking about

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

That pulley is completely normal. It is a declutching style pulley, the only thing missing is the snap on plastic from cover, which is decorative:


If the alternator is not making ratcheting sounds, put a new belt on it and you are done.

Scroll down to the next pic.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by Quadcammer

...Scroll down to the next pic.

The next pic:

[kk2002s]

Seems the alternator clutch pulley seized
It looks like you can buy just the alternator clutch pulley for around $40
That does seem odd that much rust is up there. Maybe the water pump is leaking onto the belt?
Don't think you need to immediately jump to replacing all spinning things BUT you should spin and listen to see if any others are coming to their end of life

You may want to replace the belt as well

[Brian in Tucson]

If the alt. clutch had seized, wouldn't the alternator still turn? Does the alternator turn easily and smoothly?

I don't think I'd buy a new alt. clutch before I answered these questions. More likely I'd look for a reman'd alternator. And check out the operation of all the other rotating thingies on the front of the engine.

[Geof3]

Originally Posted by Quadcammer

You seemingly have no clue what you're talking about



Scroll down to the next pic.

You guys obviously didn't see the pic where the pully was sheared clean off the spool? I am fully aware the pully is a clutch type.

And where would "red dust" come from? Other than a rusted/worn bearing/surface? That pully is NOT normal. Sorry.

As mentioned, the pully is replaceable with a special tool. If there are no further signs of corrosion or otherwise, it should be fine. (though thstone's advice is spot on)

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Geof3

You guys obviously didn't see the pic where the pully was sheared clean off the spool? I am fully aware the pully is a clutch type.

And where would "red dust" come from? Other than a rusted/worn bearing/surface? That pully is NOT normal. Sorry.

As mentioned, the pully is replaceable with a special tool. If there are no further signs of corrosion or otherwise, it should be fine. (though thstone's advice is spot on)

Sorry, but we see about 20 or so that look like this every week and they are both serviceable and completely normal (OP's original photo):



They all throw some red dust, which is probably why Porsche put the plastic cover on them in the first place.......

[Geof3]

JFP, have you still not seen the picture with the pulley sitting in his hand? The pulley sheared off the spindle. The race is actually broken. You are only looking at the first picture...

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by Geof3

JFP, have you still not seen the picture with the pulley sitting in his hand? The pulley sheared off the spindle. The race is actually broken. You are only looking at the first picture...

I was under the impression that the one being held in a hand is not by the original poster, it is from someone else, but if that is the OP's pulley, then it has failed.

That doesn't change the question about the pulley's emitting some rust, they all do that to varying degrees.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

I was under the impression that the one being held in a hand is not by the original poster, it is from someone else, but if that is the OP's pulley, then it has failed..

I reposted a screen shot of the subsequent images so I wouldn't make the thread unreadable with a SUPER SIZED IMAGE.

Thanks for all you do, but in this case, I think you missed it originally.

[djw8282]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

That pulley is completely normal. It is a declutching style pulley, the only thing missing is the snap on plastic from cover, which is decorative:


If the alternator is not making ratcheting sounds, put a new belt on it and you are done.

Hey JFP in PA..I thought this cap was some sort of dust cover. Are you sure it isn't needed? I am in the the middle of replacing mine as we speak and my Bosch part did not include the cap as well.

This actually happen to me last week. I heard a bit of squeaking from a the pulley and was going to check it over the weekend. Didn't make it cause the following day I actually heard someimg fly off and down the road and lost powering steering. I had towed and it turns out the alternator pulley came off. This alnerator has 150,000 miles on it

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by djw8282

Hey JFP in PA..I thought this cap was some sort of dust cover. Are you sure it isn't needed? I am in the the middle of replacing mine as we speak and my Bosch part did not include the cap as well.

This actually happen to me last week. I heard a bit of squeaking from a the pulley and was going to check it over the weekend. Didn't make it cause the following day I actually heard someimg fly off and down the road and lost powering steering. I had towed and it turns out the alternator pulley came off. This alnerator has 150,000 miles on it

The cap is a dust/debris shield to keep crud out of the inner workings of the pulley.