A Lucky Day! Water Pulley Damage on my Volvo P1800

Views: 94

I called it a lucky day today! My Volvo P1800 water pulley was damaged.

I drove to work this morning, everything was OK. I drove home for lunch, nothing wrong. I even washed my car after lunch, but then when I drove it to work…I heard some weird tek tek tek sound…

Parked outside my shop, ignoring the sound. I don’t remember hearing that sound before. Sounds like a broken fan belt. As I was outside, I didn’t open up the bonnet to check.

Then, around 4.15pm, I drove it to post office. On my way, I could hear the sound getting louder and stronger. I was getting worried, as something must be WRONG!

Instead of heading the post office, I decided to change the route to my mechanic workshop. I OFF the air conditioner, thinking that it might be the cause. Still, the sound is there…TOK TOK TOK…loud and clear and strong!

Arriving at my mechanic’s shop, he was right in front and he could hear the sound clearly too. Immediately I OFF the engine, open the bonnet level, pull the bonnet up, and we started to inspect the engine compartment. He was the first one to spot it. A BROKEN Water Pump Pulley.

Not sure what caused the pulley to fail, but my first guess is the alternator belt alignment or pulling it too strong.

Anyhow, I need a new pulley to replace the damaged one, or repair the damaged one.

Call my wife to fetch me from the workshop, dropped the parcels at post office, and I went back to office to work. Finished work at around 6.30pm, sat in front of the computer, I started searching for “volvo p1800 fan hub” keyword. Couldn’t find any, and it only showed the fan blades. However, I did found an useful site (Skandix) that showed picture illustration of the engine compartment with fan and the pulley. This is where I learned the correct term for the damaged part: Waterpump, belt pulley.

With the correct keyword, I then searched the part in ebay.com.

Found a few sellers for USED pulleys. One is in great chrome finishing, but at US$69.90, it is way too much for what I am willing to spend, especially when I found one at just US$5 (+ another US$11 shipping).

This is the US$69.90 chromed pulley. Shines like a mirror. If I didn’t found the US$5 deal, I might bid for this.

So, I just bid and bought the US$5 used one.

Just have to wait another 1-2 weeks for it to arrive in Malaysia, should be after CNY.

By the way, I just found out that new one can still be obtained from VP-Autoparts, at US$94.22 + shipping:

https://vp-autoparts.com/en/artiklar/pulley-1800_140_164_240.html

Why am I calling it a LUCKY DAY?

• I thank God because the current damage is minor. It could have been much worse if the pulley got broken off and the fan flew out, damaging the radiator and other parts of the engine or alternator…etc. Can’t imagine how bad it can go.
• I thank God because I was close to my mechanic. The distance is around 3-5km, and I was able to reach my mechanic’s shop safely.
• I thank God because it happened at the least rushing time. If it was in the morning, my mechanic might not have opened, or I might not have time to get to the mechanic.
• I thank God for the cheap pulley that I was able to find at ebay at such a short timing! Bought it immediately and solved my sourcing problem.