1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Most folks know it is time to change the pully when the need a tow truck.
The pully would not obaorb enough energy to hurt mpg's, as that amount of enery cannot be absorbed and dispated by the plastic puly. The pully will melt when the bearings go.
The top pully will go first, as it spins so fast as a result of its small size. Get a 1/2 " square bar and remove the tension from the belt. There are two holes in the adjuster that will line up allowing you to insert a nail or philips driver to lock it in slack position. Then pin the wheel bu hand. If it very dry, it will spin very freely. If it spins rough, then it is in end stage failure and could fail completely at any time. You can also feel wobble from wear.
When the bearing gets bad, it heats up and the plastic wheel melts. But sometimes the bearing will lock up. A locked up bearing does not generate any heat, but the belt will melt it and get melted plastic on the other wheels which is a labor intensive removal sometimes.
Many replace the lower wheels as well. It is a major pain. If you are handy with tools in crampt spaces, you will probably be ok doing it. The pullies are around $35US each.
The T5 ECUs do seem to loose mpg's in hot weather. I would expect that mpg's would go up on hot weather with other cars. The air is less dense so wind resistance should go down. And the less dense air should require a more open throttle which reduces throttle pumping losses. And power goes down a lot. Some of that power losss will not happen with a MBC and insulated intakes. I suspect that the problem lies with the ECU programming as influenced by the intake air sensor. My 95SET is also very sensitive to side winds, as well as head winds of course. We get days and days of very strong south winds in eastern Kansas.
Part of the issue in mpg's losses can be the increased knock sensitivity with hot intake air. If so, that can be aggrevated by dirty injectors and combustion chambers.
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