I've been trying to install a set of March underdrive pulleys in my '91 camaro. its got the tpi 350 and i have the 3 pulley set (crank, water pump, and alternator). the problem is that i cant even get the job started, i cant get the alternator pulley off. i know there is a little allen key bolt in the middle of the other bolt on the pulley but i can loosen it up. and if that does or does not make a difference i cant loosen up the bolt on the outside of that. trying to loosen up both bolts, at seperat times of course, all that happens is the fan spins. even with an air wratchet it wont loosen it, the fan on the pully just spins and the bolts dont loosen. can anyone suggest what i'm doing wrong, and if its something easy explain to me why i'm an idiot. thanks.

 

my recommendation is do not put the alternator pulley on. i have mine on there and am thinking about putting the stock pulley back on because it does not charge fully.

that aside, you need to stick a big screwdriver or something through the pulley and lodge it on something to keep the pulley from spinning. then take a breaker bar and the bolt should come loose. that is how i did it and it was fairly simple.

 

Don't even mess with the alternator pulley, leave the stock one on. I did the same as you , finally changed the pulley, only to watch my volts drop significantly at idle. It's not worth your time or efforts.

 

That is most deffinately true and is the reason I am thinking about going back to the stock pulley if I can find it.

Also, with the alternator pulley on there, you really can't run multiple electronics at the same time. It is hard for me to run my headlights, radio, and for some reason the heater all at the same time and I do not have a high powered system in my car.

 

If you want to get the pulley off easily give it a hit with the impact. Personally I would leave the O.E. pulley like everyone else suggests on it to avoid charging issues.

 

would it be ok to put the alternator pulley on if i had a 140-amp alternator, because i was thinking of upgrading, or would it still have to dramatic of an effect on the charging?

and

do i even need to worry about the allen key bolt in the middle of the larger bolt, or is that just there for no reason?

 

Even if you put the bigger alternator on, you would still be pulling the same amount of amps from it thus causing the same effect. Only way to get around that is if the underdrive pulley is physically smaller than the stock one. Since you have the March pullies, that is not the case. The u/d pulley is lighter in weight but is physically the same size as the stock one.

 

Take the alternator off and take it to shop and have them remove and replace with the UD pulley, should charge you penny. Takes about 1 min with an impact gun...gotta hold the fan at the same time..wont cut your fngers off either its not on there that tight just to tight for an air rachet. Thats what I had to do.


I tried jamming something in there to hold the fan from moving and ended up screwing the aternator all up so I just took it back to Advance since its a lifetime deal.

You can put the UD pulley on and see how much of a charging issue you'll have. Mine just drops a hair but goes right back up when I start moving.

 

mine charges fine

 

Not sure about that. It is a 10% underdrive. So, 10% of 140 is 14. Then 140-14=126. So you are now putting out 126 volts.

 

my ALT pulley was way bigger than my stock pulley.

 

to you guys having charging issues"....which set did you go with? I went with the "Power And Amp Series" and everything is fine...absolutely perfect with no problems at all.

 

"Power And Amp Series"...what are you referring to?

 

March Underdrive Pulleys....the "Power and Amp Series".....they will not discharge the battery like other types and brands of pulleys will.....

 

Ok...is that a 3 pulley set or just 2? I don't know which ones I got, but they are from March and all I have is the alternator and crank.

 

power and amp series is a 3 pulley set, crank, alternator, and water pump pulleys

 

Then you dont have the "power & amp" set. They are a 3 set.

I believe.

 

i have the 3 pulley set, so does that mean i wont have any charging problems?

 

power and amp comes in both 3 piece aluminum and 2 piece steel.