ThosL Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 I have a Legacy Outback where the pulley failed a couple weeks after the waterpump was replaced. The mechanic said that it was the pulley that failed, not his problem, could there be a connection? It's the pulley in front that drives the power steering belts, etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 He had to remove that pulley to do a water pump. If it fell off or came loose it's ABSOLUTELY his problem. He didn't tighten it enough, very common, since most don't know how to properly hold the crank still to torque the pulley bolt. If the pulley "separated" and the rubber core deformed or came loose, getting wobbly, etc.... then it is just the part failing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThosL Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 The car has over 230K miles on it, no problem before they did the job. It was loose I think, I suspected something but did not know how to diagnose it. I paid to have it towed, it should be the shop's responsibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 (edited) it should be the shop's responsibility. That absolutely is not known. You don't know the mode of failure: 1. Pulleys do fail - crank pulleys separate and bearing based pulleys loose grease and fail. That's not on the shop. 2. If the pulley wasn't installed properly or the "bump the starter method" was used - then maybe it's on the shop. What we know is "the pulley failed" - which is too ambiguous to say anything about. ***How*** did it fail? It would help you a great deal to focus on facts and details: A. If you suspected issues - you should have popped the hood, posted here, taken pictures, or taken it to a shop for a quick check. B. If it failed - you should have looked, taken pictures of the actual failure (so we have data and not opinions) to help you C. If it failed - and you have gotten it fixed you should have told us what the repair involved and gotten the old part back to investigate. as it is - you didn't give complete evidence or information for us to tell what happened and are immediately blaming the shop. You'd be in a much better position to focus on facts and data. It would help you out in the long run. if the pulley separated - they can bang it back flat and tack weld it back together. easy, zero parts costs, and very little labor. takes 15 minutes. but they might not know that - so don't call them liars and cheats for not doing that, that's sort of a back yard hack, not a qualified shop repair. Edited June 13, 2017 by grossgary 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06SubLegTx Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 The car has over 230K miles on it, no problem before they did the job. It was loose I think, I suspected something but did not know how to diagnose it. I paid to have it towed, it should be the shop's responsibility. Was it taken to a Subaru Dealer? So many people/places claim they are Subaru Experts, but if fact they aren't. Did the Balancer just come off? Or did is separate into pieces? Did it damage the Key Way and the Slot down by the Harmonic / Vibration Damper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThosL Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 The pulley came off, actually there was no symptom yesterday, in the morning it started up, I got the usual warning lights no power steering, had it towed. I was relying on the response I got on this thread to assume that the last person who worked on it probably did not what they should have, or examine the pulley when they did the water pump. They got it back together charged me half of parts. My car insurance offers free roadside assistance and better towing than AAA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 They didn't tighten it correctly. Don't assume they did it right this time either. Have the bolt torque checked. That is 100% their fault and you should not have paid a dime. GD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 (edited) That absolutely is not known. You don't know the mode of failure: 1. Pulleys do fail - crank pulleys separate and bearing based pulleys loose grease and fail. That's not on the shop. 2. If the pulley wasn't installed properly or the "bump the starter method" was used - then maybe it's on the shop. What we know is "the pulley failed" - which is too ambiguous to say anything about. ***How*** did it fail? It would help you a great deal to focus on facts and details: A. If you suspected issues - you should have popped the hood, posted here, taken pictures, or taken it to a shop for a quick check. B. If it failed - you should have looked, taken pictures of the actual failure (so we have data and not opinions) to help you C. If it failed - and you have gotten it fixed you should have told us what the repair involved and gotten the old part back to investigate. as it is - you didn't give complete evidence or information for us to tell what happened and are immediately blaming the shop. You'd be in a much better position to focus on facts and data. It would help you out in the long run. if the pulley separated - they can bang it back flat and tack weld it back together. easy, zero parts costs, and very little labor. takes 15 minutes. but they might not know that - so don't call them liars and cheats for not doing that, that's sort of a back yard hack, not a qualified shop repair. I cannot support this post enough. You have a car with a quarter of a million miles on it. Things fail. The only way for a shop to prevent related failures, is to replace every part they touch, which would have to complaining on the internet at least as quickly. It is possible that it was due to neglegence on their part, and the fact that they didn't charge you full price reflects them taking responsibility for that chance. But it's impossible to know one way or the other (certainly from the lack of description provided). Maybe the last guy screwed it up, and put it together by massively overtorqueing and threadlocking it on. Maybe it was just due to fail. Edited June 13, 2017 by Numbchux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Scott Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 This happens all the time, unfortunately. Since the internet has taught everyone the "starter trick" to get them loose. I just did one that had come loose after a timing belt job. The previous shop had replaced the front pulley after it came loose, but had to grind the keyway bigger to get it on, because the crank key was so misshapen from the beating it had taken from the pulley and belt sprocket flopping around. I had to replace the timing belt sprocket, crank key and front pulley. With a lot of care, I was able to dress the end of the crankshaft back to usable condition. Many people aren't so lucky, and end up with a junked crank. Their charging you half parts, to me, is an admission of guilt. Take your car to a reputable shop, and get it checked. They may have done more damage than good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThosL Posted June 13, 2017 Author Share Posted June 13, 2017 It is impossible to know if it was destined to fail or whether it was mounted improperly, he showed the bad unit to me but I could not differentiate between what it would have looked like had it not been loose for a while. I heard looseness on Sunday and then no more noise that I remember. I asked the shop if they checked it out for condition when they did the water pump and he dismissed that as expecting too much of mechanics. Maybe if it were sufficiently defective when the water pump job was done they would have noticed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Did the outer ring separate from the inner ring - as in the rubber between the two failed, or did the bolt come loose and chew up the keyway, etc. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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