Pulley problems, I think.

[Atreus21]

Hey fellas.

I think one or more of my pulleys are wobbling. You can hear it under the hood when I accelerate. Also, I can smell coolant.

What happened: I've been smelling coolant when I get out of the car for about the past week. I was driving to work today, and made a hard turn to the right, where I lost power stearing for about a second and a half. At that point I instinctively checked my temperature gauge, and saw it was pushing 240, which is way, WAY higher than it usually gets. I parked and turned it off, but I noticed that whenever I accelerated I heard a big racket from under the hood. Sounded very much like wobbling pulleys.

Notes: I recently changed my drive belt, and flushed the radiator. Also, I took my car in to get a price on fixing the A/C. They didn't fix it, but the A/C works now because (I think) they must've put freon in it to test it, so I've been using it. Up until now I didn't think that would be a problem.

Any ideas?

Thanks guys.

[Dawizman]

Re: Pulley problems, I think.

Maybe pop the hood and check the pullies? Also, check the level of coolant in the rad. If its really empty, then you'll be running high temperatures. The fact that you can smell coolant makes me thing you've got a leak somewhere. Could be a shot waterpump too.

[ploppel]

Re: Pulley problems, I think.

I just replaced the belt tensioner assembly yesterday..... there are two plastic ellbows with O-rings between the tensioner bracket assembly and the block. These are the heater connections and they dry rot, mine were cracked in two pieces... had a hard time getting the pieces out of the hole in the block...
The Dayco replacement from AdvancedAuto comes with two new ellbows and O-rings, $59 - not all that bad....

[Atreus21]

Re: Pulley problems, I think.

Maybe pop the hood and check the pullies? Also, check the level of coolant in the rad. If its really empty, then you'll be running high temperatures. The fact that you can smell coolant makes me thing you've got a leak somewhere. Could be a shot waterpump too.

Will a pulley wobble be noticeable to the naked eye? This is a 98 3.8 Camaro by the way.

[ploppel]

Re: Pulley problems, I think.

Will a pulley wobble be noticeable to the naked eye? This is a 98 3.8 Camaro by the way.

yes, you should be able to see it

It's most likely the tensioner, either the pulley bearing or the tensioner itself.... fixed for $59.... if you think the water pump is shot that's another $50 and while you have the belt off anyways it's a piece of cake to do...

[Atreus21]

Re: Pulley problems, I think.

yes, you should be able to see it

It's most likely the tensioner, either the pulley bearing or the tensioner itself.... fixed for $59.... if you think the water pump is shot that's another $50 and while you have the belt off anyways it's a piece of cake to do...

Okay, I saw the two plastic doolies you were talking about, but the water pump pulley is wobbling, as well as dripping liquid on the crankshaft pulley. Think that's my culprit.

Thanks for your help man.

[Dawizman]

Re: Pulley problems, I think.

Okay, I saw the two plastic doolies you were talking about, but the water pump pulley is wobbling, as well as dripping liquid on the crankshaft pulley. Think that's my culprit.

Thanks for your help man.

Yep, waterpump is the culprit for both problems. It's a quick, relatively cheap fix.