What ever happened to overdrive pulleys for alternators? I remember them being
popular in the late 80's and early 90's. Were too many people throwing belts?
Can any old timers share their experience?

Many people still use them. I've heard mixed results on their
effectiveness. On my Maxima, the gains are hardly noticeable. On other
cars, I've heard gains of 5hp or so, sometimes more.

Tony


--



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

"Kevin Murray" wrote in message
e.rogers.com...
What ever happened to overdrive pulleys for alternators? I remember them
being
popular in the late 80's and early 90's. Were too many people throwing
belts?
Can any old timers share their experience?

Actually I was referring to overdrive pulleys, not underdrive pulleys. Overdrive
pulleys spin the alternator faster for increased output potential at low RPMs.
Underdrive pulleys spin them slower to free up horsepower.


"Tony Fernandes" wrote in message
...
Many people still use them. I've heard mixed results on their
effectiveness. On my Maxima, the gains are hardly noticeable. On other
cars, I've heard gains of 5hp or so, sometimes more.

Tony


--



What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact

"Kevin Murray" wrote in message
e.rogers.com...
What ever happened to overdrive pulleys for alternators? I remember them
being
popular in the late 80's and early 90's. Were too many people throwing
belts?
Can any old timers share their experience?

I still see them around from a lot of manufacturers such as March
Pulleys. 30-32% overdrive seems to be the popular ratio. What I
suspect happened was that once high-capacity alternators became
mainstream and the prices dropped, less people went for the overdrive
pulleys. After all, the overdrive pulleys couldn't increase the
maximum capacity of the alternator, it would just lower the engine RPM
required to reach that maximum alternator capacity.

There's no reason that an overdrive pulley should cause belts to get
thrown, unless it's shoddily-made or improperly-installed.

Scott Gardner


On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 14:06:07 GMT, "Kevin Murray"
wrote:

What ever happened to overdrive pulleys for alternators? I remember them being
popular in the late 80's and early 90's. Were too many people throwing belts?
Can any old timers share their experience?

Kevin Murray wrote:
What ever happened to overdrive pulleys for alternators? I remember them being
popular in the late 80's and early 90's. Were too many people throwing belts?
Can any old timers share their experience?



I discussed these in another post. Most aftermarket alternator makers
will sell you one, though its much less expensive to buy them at an
autoparts store. Hot rodders do pulley swaps all the time.

--
thelizman "I didn't steal the FAQ either"

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On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 00:43:05 -0500, thelizman
wrote:

Kevin Murray wrote:
What ever happened to overdrive pulleys for alternators? I remember them being
popular in the late 80's and early 90's. Were too many people throwing belts?
Can any old timers share their experience?



I discussed these in another post. Most aftermarket alternator makers
will sell you one, though its much less expensive to buy them at an
autoparts store. Hot rodders do pulley swaps all the time.

--
thelizman "I didn't steal the FAQ either"

Lizman,
I looked at your other post regarding pullies, and you
accidentally suggested the wrong pulley size to increase output.
Installing a larger pulley on an alternator would underdrive it,
reducing the output at idle. You made a good point though, that
raising the engine's idle speed is the wrong way to go about
increasing the alternator capacity at idle.
I'd also add that while alternator pulleys of various sizes
are available from a variety of sources, it's not always an easy
at-home swap. Many alternator pullies are pressed onto the alternator
shaft, and should be removed/replaced with a hydraulic press.
Further, some alternator manufacturers recommend that the alternator
case also be disassembled prior to removing or replacing a pressed-on
pulley so as not to cause any damage.

Scott Gardner