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Another pulley thread

8K views 28 replies 7 participants last post by  Lord SLK 
#1 ·
Yes, another thread on the pulley upgrade, but I have just a simple question really. I plan to buy the Speers pulley and belt kit, especially as it is now 169Euro, so I can't really resist at that price for some extra ponies under the bonnet. >:D

I am confident that I can fit it myself, and reading on here the Speers kit has had good reviews. My question is this, do I need the ECU remap or will the pulley and belt be okay on their own?

Thanks in advance, Ads
 
#4 ·
It's a doddle to fit , remove the rad shroud to make a bit space to work in and drop the belt off , clean the existing pulley as best you can with some wet and dry or emery cloth or similar so the over pulley seats onto the existing one then re assemble , it should take no longer than an hour .
Pulley works great alone , good increase in torque and a little more supercharger noise , it is working a little harder ! It will run out if steam a little after 5.5k rpm , the re map sorts this out if you like driving the car a little harder but it does feel like there's less torque than the pulley alone , I did the pulley then re map about 2k miles later as I was in Germany .
 
#6 ·
I'm not sure to be honest , I would guess it's possible but I was lead to believe Sacha can send it via the internet and you can load it to your car yourself , he speaks very good English so ask him for the details , I've not got a clue when it comes to computers to be honest , it was only an hours diversion for me on my trip , that's why I called in .
 
#7 ·
Just had a look at Speers listings on eBay, and they all say 'the kit consists of a large crankshaft pulley and V-belt' but surely I need a supercharger pulley? Or am I getting confused?

Oh, and because mine is a 1997 model, it is pre-OBDII and so I think I will need to send off the ECU.
 
#8 ·
Right, just purchased the Speers crank pulley and V-belt for just £124, if I feel that ECU needs remapping, which I am sure it will, then I shall get that done separately.

I have also ordered a supercharger oil kit and so I will do that at the same time.

Looking forward to the extra power!!
 
#9 ·
It makes a noticeable difference , it slips over the existing bottom pulley and is secured by 6 grub screws that tighten against the inside of the existing pulley , I used thread lock just in case .
As I said , make sure you clean off the surface of your bottom pulley , I didn't the first time I tried it on and then realised how good a fit it is .
I've put a cone filter on as well , the standard one is quite restrictive considering the supercharger is working harder .
Mines been on for about 8 thousand miles now without a problem, exercise a little caution when tightening up the bolts , I did opposing sides to make sure everything stayed lined up and as tight as I dared , there were no instructions in the box but it's very basic nuts and bolts mechanics .
Good luck
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the tips Paul, especially the advice about tightening the nuts on opposing sides, I wouldn't have thought of that and yet it is a very very good point!

As regards the cone filter - I did that mod a few weeks ago, fitted two nice new filters and sorted out all the pipework. The only problem was that the noise of the whining supercharger was just too much for me, especially on tick over. It made the car sound like a bus and I just didn't get that roar you normally get with cone filters, and so I removed it within a few days.

How do you find yours sounds day to day?
 
#12 ·
Yeah, that's true, I might well put them back on now I also have a mid-sport exhaust which isn't ear splitting loud but is definitely louder than the stock exhaust and has a very low tone.

My transmission kit has arrived today, just waiting for the supercharger fluid kit and the pulley kit, then I shall do them all on the same day.

Thanks again for your response, I will keep you updated.
 
#14 ·
Keep us updated on your progression too, I would be interested on what you think about the extra power.

I have modified a lot of cars over the years, and gaining an extra 35-45bhp for £126 is a bargain, to be honest I don't think I have ever known such a cheap increase in power?
 
#18 ·
Hooray! Parcel containing the pulley kit arrived this morning! Took since 30th December to get here from Germany thanks to a useless postal system, absolutely no fault of the supplier and nothing they could do.

So, time to unpack it and install. I am planning on doing the supercharger fluid change at the same time, hope to see some difference in performance.

Piccys to follow.
 
#20 ·
If you take a look at the wheeler dealers slk programme ed china shows you how to change the belts and tensioners , your changing one anyway so you may as well do the other one and the tensioner pulleys as well , it's only an extra half hours work and the parts are cheap , try euro car parts or similar .
 
#21 ·
That's a good point Paul, I had a tensioner completely shear off last year on my C32 AMG at full throttle, couldn't believe the noise and smell of burning rubber. One of my employees was driving it at the time, having a bit of fun whilst I was on the phone as the passenger. As soon as I lifted the bonnet I was faced with smoke and sparks! :surprise:

Fixed it all myself within hours, and to be fair I did have plenty of warning due to the noisy bearings. :laugh:
 
#22 · (Edited)
Right, just a quick update with piccys. The crank pulley kit arrived a few days ago, and so as the weather was a bit better yesterday I decided to go ahead and fit it and also change the supercharger fluid.

Here is the crank pulley kit before going in:



And here is the old pulley and belt in place:



So then I removed the water expansion tank and radiator fan, which was a bit fiddly but I got there in the end:




And now I have fitted the new pulley over the old crank, it fits like a glove and as you can see there are screws on the inside which are tightened with a number 4 allen key. As per PaulWirrel's advice, I tightened the screws on opposite sides as I went along to try to ensure that the crank pulley is central.




Finally after a bit of a fight and with some help from the dear wife, I managed to get the new pulley belt on and all done!



Final job was the supercharger fluid, very easy. After removing the airbox etc, I located the small hex screw and removed it to let the supercharger oil out:



Using the syringe provided, I removed the old oil, then replaced with the new oil until it overflowed out the screw hole. Reversed the process to put it all back together, clean up the engine bay and done!

Started the car up and all sounds and looks fine. Angel eyes going in today, so looking forward to that job.

Oh, and anyone who says the old supercharger oil smells like an apes backside is lying...it smells like 100 apes backsides!!!! :eek:

Hope this post helps others who are thinking of doing the same modifications.
 
#24 ·
I have 82k miles on the SLK, and yes I probably will do the chip upgrade, although I will have to send the ECU off because it is a 1997 pre-OBDII model.

Well, I took her out for a drive with the wife on Tuesday night, but had to take it steady because it was dark, wet and the temp was +2c. Very difficult to find a decent wide long road here in Cornwall, but every time I pushed the accelerator down hard, I had to back off soon after which says something! :grin:

Anyway, the chance came to boot it, push the accelerator down properly past the kick-down whilst moving at 15mph...needless to say it kicked us in the back and really took off, I am very impressed!!!

So, did I notice any difference? HELL YEAH! >:D
Should you fit a pulley kit to your SLK? HELL YEAH! >:D

Oh, and the sound from that supercharger...lovely!!!
 
#25 ·
Ha , I knew you would like it , sort the re map out if you can , it gives a little more power at the upper end of the rev range and a more even spread of power , I'm guessing you noticed the bottom end power ? The re map keeps it linear to 6.5k revving cleanly , I put a larger intercooler on , half as big again and all welded alloy , not sure if it does much but it can't hurt for £120ish .
 
#26 ·
OOO! Yes, I want to upgrade my intercooler, looks like an easy job too! Where did you get yours from?

And yes, the bottom end power shows a massive improvement. Just need a dry day to have some proper safe fun. I also want to get a cone filter back on, but hate the bizarre noise the supercharger makes. Might be able to just add a cone filter to the air intake and leave the supercharger intake connected to the box, if there is room?

I will send off my ECU for remapping, yes.
 
#27 ·
If you search my previous posts you'll find the website for the intercooler . It was a guy up Blackpool way , it was only an hour away so I drove up to offer the coolers up to the car to see which one fitted best . The one I got was as near to a direct replacement as possible , I didn't even have to take the bumper off , although in hindsight it would be easier to do so .
It wasn't bad to fit , just had to fabricate a few brackets . I would post a link but I've no idea how to :surprise:
 
#28 ·
After a lot, and I mean a lot!!! of sanding of the original crank pulley I managed to get the new pulley over it. I didn't realise when I ordered the pulley that my pulley was quite badly rusted, so I sanded it all back to the bare metal obviously with very limited access. After hours of being hunched over I'm made up that the car sounds great and pulls great! Such a massive difference for a very inexpensive mod!
 
#29 ·
Thanks for the update, hours of work sanding but sounds like it was worth it! My crank pulley wasn't badly rusted, and so with a little help from a rubber hammer the new pulley went on very easily, in fact it almost fell off when I was tightening the screws.

I've only been out once since fitting mine, and that was on a cold dark wet night. Hopefully might get a chance to go for a blast tomorrow...weather permitting.

Oh, and I totally agree. a massive difference for a very inexpensive mod, plus the sound is really nice!
 
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