All right, so I got my alternator belt off,

[Ace2cool]

And it turns out my crank pulley is chipped. In multiple places. Looks like the PO dropped it and said, well, that's not too big a deal. Now I know why my old alternator belt frayed on the edge. So, the question I have, is should I source an OEM one from a part out or something, or should I just get an aftermarket. I know, aftermarket, no balancer, engine ded, ect. But the VG is such a balanced V6 that I don't know if it really matters that much. Regardless, I can't reuse this one in good faith.

[BlackWidowZ]

Get same or better

[BlackWidowZ]

when I say better I mean better, I dont mean just any crank pully. If you use a smaller one your car will burn up. So if you go after maket you need to chage the water pump too to work with a diff pully. or the water pump wont pump fast enough. Thats the problem.

[Ace2cool]

Lol, I know about underdrive/overdrive. My question was about harmonic dampeners.

[DCaff300ZX]

Ya know Ace, after all these years now with my Z's the ONE thing that always stands out is that new OEM always works for sure, and the other stuff...not so always.
I'd go new OEM and try now to grumble too much emptying my wallet...

[DankZX]

From what i have read and I have done quite a bit of research on this, that most things that are import especially nissans, hondas, toyotas and so on have such hi tolerances of balancing and measurements from the factory that it is usually not as issues, there have been some cases but not as many as you think. The issue of the harmonic dampeners comes into play mostly on domestics beings fords, chevys, etc. as these are not balanced to the tolerances they should be. There are some TT/NA guys who have ran them for 100,000 plus miles and havent had any issues. If it were me I would get the UD pulley and the OD water pulley.

[Ace2cool]

See, that's what I was thinking. If it were a dsm I wouldnt use anything without a harmonic balancer, but this is a vg.

[DCaff300ZX]

And while that may be true more or less, do you really trust that level of logic to your engine and car's long term health?

[Ace2cool]

If I did, I wouldn't have made this thread.

I don't know, wasn't there a company with a lightweight pulley that still included a harmonic dampener?

[BlackWidowZ]

ACE i think ATI makes one that has a torsional damper same thing.

ATI Race Super Damper Crank Pulley this ace http://www.atiracing.com/links/pr/nissa ... /index.htm

[DCaff300ZX]

If I did, I wouldn't have made this thread.

I don't know, wasn't there a company with a lightweight pulley that still included a harmonic dampener?

Sounds like you already pretty much know the answer then!

The ATI unit mentioned fits the bill I would think...

[Z-owned]

the ati dampener is nice but the price not so much, but the unorthodox pulley has been tried and tested as well as many others, hell I have a ams ud pulley on mine that I have been running since before finding out that ams sucks years ago with no issues thus far.

[z32loverboy]

I think I have a extra one off of one of my parts motors in the garage somewhere thats not beat up if you want to go that route and make a trip up to Nash-Vegas. Though if I had the money I'd get a new oem one, just personal preference though.

[Ace2cool]

If I did, I wouldn't have made this thread.

I don't know, wasn't there a company with a lightweight pulley that still included a harmonic dampener?

Sounds like you already pretty much know the answer then!

The ATI unit mentioned fits the bill I would think...

Yeah, but I honestly think that's more than I need for my essentially stock TT. And at $545, I think I have to pass. I'm seriously considering the UR pulley, simply because of the number of them I see all over the place. Granted, if I were to do a full build, I'd probably swap to the ATI damper. I just know of too many Z's running them, with no crank/bearing issues having come from them. Just seems like there would be a rash of issues at this point, considering how many Greg Dupree installs in a month. I think I'm just gonna get the UR underdrive and overdrive the water pump.

[BlackWidowZ]

some people have said that while the stock pully does have a dampener, its purpose wasn't for balance it was to reduce accessory noise. The the design of the motor doesn't need a balancer, but as far as the accessory noise is concerned I guess you want to make sure all the other stuff driven by that belt is good, without the dampener.