Replacing bottom/crank pulley??

[munfred]

Following on from this thread....
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5355


Everyone on here seems to refer to the bottom pulley. Is this the same as the crank pulley??

I fear mine is on its way out (although I havent driven the 406 for over a week now)........

Is it just a case of putting it in gear (so there is no movement of the crank) locking the aux belt tensioner taking off the belt, swapping the crankshaft pulleys round and then putting it all back together?

If so Ill have a crack at it on monday.

Any additional advice, things I need to look out for.
hopefully it will be a bit warmer then aswell.

Thanks in advance.

[jamjar1383]

yes the bottom pully is the crankshaft pully.

if you have a look under the pully and you can see the brown dust then it is close to failing.
as far a replacing it goes then its better to use an air gun.
to change it all you need to do is take off the driver side front wheel off then remove the plastic panel on the inner wing then remove the fan belt (aux belt) then its easy to undo the crank pully.
you may need a crank puller but mine came off by hand.

[munfred]

I replaced the aux belt tensioner, so Im pretty familiar with getting the belt off etc. (Although it was over 18months ago...)
I have a pretty hefty impact gun which I usually use to loosen things or a large breaker bar failing that.
Hopefully wont need a puller. If its anything like my saxo/rallye engines then my mk1 persuasion tool should do the trick. (lump hammer).

I may just change it for a piece of mind.
Ive had the 406 for 30 months now, and Ive done 40k so its on 110k all together, and looking at receipts etc it hasnt been changed before as far as I know. For the sake of £50 and having an excuse to be outside playing with cars Im sure it will be worth it in the long run. Especially since there will probably be more pressure on it during the winter months.

[406silverhdi]

lol i was told by the mechanic who listened to mine that it was the bottom pulley, turned out to be the engine cover, result!

[munfred]

Well after a week of not driving the 406 I started it up today, and the noise had gone. Since I had already gone and fully motivated myself to work on the car in the cold temperature I decided to take a look whilst all my tools were out.
Jacked up, took of the arch lining, started it up and the noise reappeared again.
There is a noise definately coming from the lower offside rear of the engine. The Crank pulley had a little bit of movement in it.
I decided to replace it so went down to the local motor factors and they said there was 2 different types they had and their computer was not telling them which one I would need as I needed the code off my chasis rather than the Reg. there is also £30 difference in price between the 2. So they are getting those ordered for me to arrive first thing tomorrow morning.

Got home and attempted to get the retaining bolt out, and after much sweating, swearing and the biggest scafold pole I could fine I finally managed to loosen the bolt. The pulley simply dropped off after that so didnt need a puller.

The pulley itself doesnt look too bad in condition. There seemed to be no dust or anything on around the pulley. Which part is it that usually fails. As I said previously I will still probably replace it for a piece of mind, but cant see what could be wrong with this one.

[steve_earwig]

Oh! I gather the shock abosrber thingy is between the two halves, maybe you need to turn the back against the front. R/h back of the engine? Hmm, only thing I can think of is the water pump I suppose while you've got the belt off it wouldn't hurt to pull the covers off and have a squint at the cam belt, also see if the water pump is developing any incontinence.

[munfred]

nah, doesnt sound like water pump, and cam belt seems to be fine. (fingers crossed)
Already thought of that, as it would be rude not to check whilst other things were off.
Great, just looked at weater for tomorrow, and I will be fitting it at between -2*C and 1*C, today was bad enough doing it at 1.2*C brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[teamster1975]

Give the alternator a spin while the aux belt is off; in fact run the engine with the aux belt removed for a short while to see if the noise is gone.
I had an intermittent whirring noise which turned into a squeal over the last couple of months; turns out the bearings in the alternator were shot.

[jasper5]

From the area the noise is coming from, sounds right where the water pump is located, I would check it out properly.

You will know when the new pulley is fitted.

As teamster suggested, check out the alternator as well, basically, run the engine without fan belt after the new pulley is fitted, hopefully, all will be well.

[munfred]

Ok cool.
All sorted now. Got the new pulley on, (which has no sideways movement) and the noise has gone.
Unfortunately from the 2 pulleys that they had available for a V99 plate 406 HDI. I needed the more expensive (to replace like for like) the cheaper one looked to have all the same fittings but had a hollow around the centre rather than a solid pulley. I opted for the like for like just to be on the safe side even though it was £30 more.

The only real issue I had was getting the retaining bolt up to the correct torque, and getting the aux belt back on. Haynes says that if you lock the tensioner on a used belt you should be able to slide it back on. After much swearing I ended up adjusting the eccentric roller as though I was putting on a new belt.

Whilst I was at it I wacked a bit of silicone on the end of the stupid hub nut caps that always rattle, replaced the rear brake pads and put on my spring assisters. (Rubber things that sit inbetween the rear coils to stop them compressing as much when towing)
Not bad for 3 hours work. Much more worhwhile and satisfying than paying someone a fortune to do it.

[teamster1975]

Well done munfred! Bet you're glad to be back in the warm!!

[mjb]

bloody hell, it's -4 round here today! i couldn't imagine trying to do any car work outside on a day like this!

[munfred]

luckily I did it yesterday. ;)
Still wasnt the warmest though.
Just got back from a nice long walk today though. There are still puddles of ice everywhere. Thick enough to support my weight.....
When I am outside doing stuff to the cars I dont like wearing overalls as I find them restrictive when you try and shimmy yourself along the ground. I just wear old clothes. I did wrap up warm yesterday. Couple of pairs of trousers, couple of jumpers, leather jacket, and plastic surgical gloves actually get nice and warm when you are using your hands quite alot.

[jasper5]

Yeah, well done!

I did a timing belt kit replacement and major service on a Peugeot Expert van on monday, outside, not as cold as today, but still bloody freezing!

I took my dog out earlier, the fog hasn't lifted all day, I could just about keep him in sight when he was running through the fields.

Ice is hanging off all the trees, the Swans on the reservoirs are having a rough time with the frozen water.

[steve_earwig]

At least it makes them easier for the Kosovans to catch...