!HELP! Should this happen?

http://i60.tinypic.com/2hrljrn.jpg

SO, I can literally touch this pulley and it wiggles with no effort at all. But, with the engine running I can see it wobbling. Now, when I get on the gas I can hear a kind of rattle and slight grinding noise. I can't really tell where it's coming from under the hood, and I'm really hoping to anything holy that it's not my new turbo I just installed a month ago.

Quiet, yet wobbly on idle..

My wife is car incompetent so I don't know what it does when I give it gas..

Any suggestions?

OP, you need a new one of these:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C2WI7O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1]Amazon.com: Gates 38030 New Idler Pulley: Automotive[/ame]

Go ahead and replace your belts while you're there. Or have you done them recently/last six months?

Be quick about it, too. To be clear, when that pulley lets go, depending on where you are and what speed the engine is going, it'll do anything from rip that belt to shreds and throw it all over your engine bay (best case scenario) or at worst, it will snap the belt, which will slap the timing cover, which, at speed can (and does) puncture the timing cover, and possibly damage the timing belt and/or disrupt engine timing which can bend a valve and/or pierce a piston -- all of which require a new engine/significant time and money to fix.

The part's $30. Add in another $20 for belts and grab your 10mm socket - You can do it in the driveway after work or something.

So would that make a noise like the turbo fins are hitting the housing? I kinda have that sound fresh in my memory from when my stock one blew.. Now im super paranoid, every little odd noise I hear I turn the stereo off and listen real carefully..

Yeah, fresh belts, replaced roughly 3,000-5,000 miles ago. My old ones were slipping like a bastard and they were GATORBACKS! Lol

So would that make a noise like the turbo fins are hitting the housing? I kinda have that sound fresh in my memory from when my stock one blew.. Now im super paranoid, every little odd noise I hear I turn the stereo off and listen real carefully..

 

Yeah, fresh belts, replaced roughly 3,000-5,000 miles ago. My old ones were slipping like a bastard and they were GATORBACKS! Lol

Well, you've been around the block -- There's only one way to find out.

Well, you've been around the block -- There's only one way to find out.

Well what kind of noise would the pulley make?

Pulley does make a rattling kind of noise... I had a replacement fitted and it didn't stop the noise and so I was concerned about other things in the engine... but it seems the AC magnetic clutch makes that kind of noise when it is going too

- a few of the other guys on uklegacy forum have also needed AC compressors replaced at about 10 years old. The guy who did the regas on the AC said he has seen loads of failed clutches on these things too...

When my idler pulley started to go it made a high pitched whine. The replacement pulley is a better quality piece. It was redesigned. Cheap money to replace it and have piece of mind.

It's not obvious from the picture, and really only until you hold it in your hand, but, the Gates unit is metal and heavy, whereas the stock is plastic and cheap.

Just go to your dealer and buy the pulley and the mounting shaft youll need both as the original may snap off and has worn under the same stresses as the bearings in the pulley. Mine snapped off it can be replaced/fix in about 15 min in your driveway.

Also the stock is metal not plastic it is as durable as any 'aftermarket" offering.

Just go to your dealer and buy the pulley and the mounting shaft youll need both as the original may snap off and has worn under the same stresses as the bearings in the pulley. Mine snapped off it can be replaced/fix in about 15 min in your driveway.

 

Also the stock is metal not plastic it is as durable as any 'aftermarket" offering.

Yours might be, but the 05 pulleys are plastic, stock. At $30 on Amazon, the Gates ones are a cheaper upgrade over a stock OEM replacement.

So you guys dont think it's the turbo?

Fix the obvious (and cheaper) problem first. Even IF it's your new turbo giving you grief, you'll still have to fix that pulley.

Okay, from the beginning..

I bought this car on payments off the guy I work for at the shop. It had 99,500 miles on it and around 2 days and 50 miles later the stock turbo blew up.. He bought me the new turbo on eBay and we installed it. I used Brakleen to wash out all the metal feed lines, replaced one or two rubber hose lines, and put it all back together. I changed the oil twice, drove it home (20 mi. one way) and back to work the next day. Then changed the oil again. I was having problems with the turbo inlet pipe and haven't had the money to replace it. But yesterday I found an OEM inlet pipe and I planned on buying it. I just changed the idler pulley, changed the TGV Sensor on the passenger side right up against the turbo because I got a CEL Code 2016. Been like that for around 2 weeks or so and I need the light to clear because I live in Pa and we have state emissions/inspections annually. Suck. It now has 100,110 miles on it and i've honestly had enough..

And I don't know how to prime the oil when you first install one.. Is it like wet-starting a fresh oil filter? Y'know, fill the new filter 3/4 with the new oil..

Okay, from the beginning..

I bought this car on payments off the guy I work for at the shop. It had 99,500 miles on it and around 2 days and 50 miles later the stock turbo blew up.. He bought me the new turbo on eBay and we installed it.

1st mistake.

I used Brakleen to wash out all the metal feed lines, replaced one or two rubber hose lines, and put it all back together.

Because that's the way you do it!

I changed the oil twice, drove it home (20 mi. one way) and back to work the next day. Then changed the oil again. I was having problems with the turbo inlet pipe and haven't had the money to replace it. But yesterday I found an OEM inlet pipe and I planned on buying it. I just changed the idler pulley, changed the TGV Sensor on the passenger side right up against the turbo because I got a CEL Code 2016. Been like that for around 2 weeks or so and I need the light to clear because I live in Pa and we have state emissions/inspections annually. Suck. It now has 100,110 miles on it and i've honestly had enough..

 

And I don't know how to prime the oil when you first install one.. Is it like wet-starting a fresh oil filter? Y'know, fill the new filter 3/4 with the new oil..

tl;dr, I lost all sympathy for you after reading this.

You 'rebuilt' the car with cheap parts and now you're surprised and frustrated that it's not working the way it should?

You "repaired" (term used loosely) it like you had no respect for the car, nor wanted it to last very long; were you intent on selling it to some poor schmuck shortly after getting it running right, that's one thing --It would become somebody else's problem.

But here you are, "at your wit's end" and I'm left wondering if you had any wits about you to begin with. Do you show the same disrespect and hasty, corner-cutting repairs on your customer's vehicles?

Long story short, a new motor is in that car's very near future. My suggestion is that you sell it at a loss to a new owner who's ready, willing, and able to give it the $5k+ it'll need to stay out of the scrapyard.