MX-3.com

Hello all

My car is at the mechanic (a RL friend) for service and a few repairs. It's a 98 MX3, with a 1.6l, 4 cylinder 110HP engine

I decided to have the distribution (Timing belt?) redone, since I had no clue when it was done the last time, and the car has 160000 kilometers

When opened, we found out that the damper or dampening pulley (I think that's the right english word for it) and it's bolt were soldered (welded together). Yeah, we have no clue who did that and why

So, we had to cut off the bolt, and the pulley was damaged. We called Mazda to order a replacement pulley, and found out that there are none in stock, and it has to be ordered and manufactured in japan. The price is about 180 euros, and the worst part is that it may take "around a month, maybe more". No time commitment from Mazda.

We looked at junkyards around here, and couldn't find any replacement pulleys.

I was wondering if you guys had recommendations or ideas on where I could order one? Any clues? I don't want to be a pedestrian for over a month

Let me know if I'm not clear about something, I'm not 100% sure about translations for mechanical terms.

UPDATE

I found 2 of those on eBay

First one is the same as the existing one
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mazda-Mi ... ccessories" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The second one is one made of aluminum it seems
http://cgi.ebay.com/MAZDA-MX3-1-6-DOHC- ... 255731a485" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm tempted to go with the second one. But I noticed it doesn't have the encased rubber that acts as a silent block. Anyone has feedback on those aluminum crank pulleys?

Let me know please

Don't use under drive pulleys, they cause more problems than they are worth.

The Miata pulley will work with no worries of burning out alternators

By underdrive I guess that's the aluminum one?

To me underdrive means a pulley that would be a different size than the original. Don't think that's the case for the aluminum one, but I'll check. Or is underdrive a brand or specific type of pulleys?

Could you explain what trouble they can cause? burning alternator??? How?

underdrive pullies are smaller. They cause everything to turn slower, and the alternator is under the same load, with less RPM's to use, it burns it out.

Can't find a stock pulley at a scrap yard?

where are you located?

We looked at junkyards, and couldn't find any.
I'm in southeast France, near italian border

Unfortunately, the miata pulley disappeared from eBay, I can only find underdrive pulleys now

I'm assuming if I go with an underdrive pulley, I'd have to change the alternator, or maybe find a way to speed up the alternator rotating speed (smaller pulley on the alternator head?)
Wouldn't I have to adjust other pulleys as well, or find another shorter belt, etc... ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-MAZDA ... ccessories

harmonic balancer is another term the pulley is called

It should be easy to find one from one of the members on this forum. There are probably lots of people with a spare one sitting in a box of parts in their garage. Post a Want To Buy thread and I'm sure someone will sell you one cheaply. You might also try the UK forum...shipping will be cheaper for you.

Heya.

Mike, I have a search including this term running on ebay. However the one you listed won't ship outside the US. I'll try contacting the seller, but usually the shipping tends to be a deal breaker in those cases.

I hope my ebay search will turn one up in the near future....

wytbishop, I'll post in the want to buy forum, thanks for the tip.

Personally I wouldnt have any fear from the dealer. Ive actually got a dealer replacement on mine, granted its teh 1.8l v6, but the best part is is that it is completely solid and slightly lighter, as opposed to the original two piece design with the rubber insert. Thats why they manf. it back in japan, and mine only took a week and a half to arrrive even though I got the same ominous warning but maybe it was b/c im stateside. Also im not sure if yours are 2 piece or not but atleast you can be assured the factory one will be of better quality and no worry about your accesories.

So if no luck here, hopefully the dealer wont seem so scary now

Yeah the existing one is 2 piece with rubber inside

One reason also I haven't ordered from the dealer yet is the fact that the dealer wants almost 200 euros to order the pulley. Meaning I have to shell out 200 euros with no idea when the pulley will be there.

Which is why I've been trying to see if I can get it elsewhere. I've been mailing the ebay sellers in the US, but no luck so far (most don't want to ship outside US, and one pulled the auction since he had sold the pulley elsewhere and forgot about the ebay auction)

I'll give it another week, and I guess if I'm still SOL, I'll cave in and will pay the 200 euros to Mazda. I just fear it will take months to get it

Thanks for your assistance so far guys. Will keep you posted