How stiff should the pulleys be?

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rjkoop
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Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

How stiff should the pulleys be?

Post by rjkoop »

With the timing belt removed I wanted to ensure good movement of the pulleys for the intake/exhaust camshafts, aux pulley, and main crankshaft. Of course with no timing belt I only wanted to move the pulleys back and forth an inch or so. Can someone tell me if this is normal?
- exhaust camshaft pulley - moves easily back and forth - but I do have the camshaft cover removed to fix a leak.
- crankshaft pulley - moves fairly back and forth with minor effort - but spark plugs are loosened and transmission in neutral
- aux pulley - spins really easily - no resistance - weird - I thought this would be similar to the crankshaft pulley - isn't it connected somehow internally?
- intake camshaft pulley - very stiff - didn't want to move - could this be jammed? Or is it just because the camshaft might currently be opening a intake valve? I can move it but requires 2 hands. Once again only tried to move an inch max.
BEEK
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Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:45 pm
Your car is a: 1975 Spider
Location: clermont fl

Re: How stiff should the pulleys be?

Post by BEEK »

everything sounds normal, without actually seeing it. the camshafts will turn with the most resistance at tdc. the crank will turn with ease at tdc, but have more resistance as the pistons are midway between top and bottom.
the aux pulley will spin freely unless it is driving a fuel pump. then it will have some minor resistance. all it is driving is the oil pump otherwise. the camshafts will turn but will feel notchy, when they are in a state between lift on any valve they will be a little more relaxed. but i dont recommend turning them so the valves wont hit anything.
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User avatar
rjkoop
Posts: 976
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: How stiff should the pulleys be?

Post by rjkoop »

BEEK wrote:everything sounds normal, without actually seeing it. the camshafts will turn with the most resistance at tdc. the crank will turn with ease at tdc, but have more resistance as the pistons are midway between top and bottom.
the aux pulley will spin freely unless it is driving a fuel pump. then it will have some minor resistance. all it is driving is the oil pump otherwise. the camshafts will turn but will feel notchy, when they are in a state between lift on any valve they will be a little more relaxed. but i dont recommend turning them so the valves wont hit anything.
Turned out that the camshaft was just in the 'opening a valve' state. Probably happened when I removed the pulley and it shifted a bit. Once I moved back it was fine.
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