will an aftermarket RWD w/p pully work on fwd w/p

[slide86]

I know the differences between the two pulleys, but my question is:

can you use an aftermarket RWD under drive pulley on a FWD water pump?

i was thinking maybe the aftermarket item suits both applications? there should be no offset difference in the actual ribs that the belts run on between the two (fwd and rwd)

[todd]

the difference in the setups is in the water pumps themselves. rwd pump sits out further than the fwd pump does.
and the pulley being offset backwards in a rwd format is to counter this added length, and put it back in line with the crank pulley.

so to answer your question, a rwd pump pulley will not work on a fwd water pump as the pulley will sit too far out and cause the belts not to line up.

best bet is to look for a fwd specific aftermarket pulley if u want to do so, or simply buy a new rwd pump and replace your fwd item. then continue getting the aftermarket rwd stuff.

this is my reading of your question, hope it helps.

[todd]

http://www.banpei.net/files/4age-16v-waterpumps.jpg

not the best picture to determine the difference in length of the pump, but it gives an idea of what i was talking about.

[slide86]

hmm yeah, i looked at goldbergs pics of the pulley differences and i was hoping that the offset difference of the belts would be the same once fitted.

might just get a new pump then the pulley

[todd]

yeah it cant hurt to get a new pump anyway.
would be my choice of options if i was doing the same thing.

[Sam-Q]

can't get the pulley you want in FWD offset? are you just matching a pump to something you already have?

[slide86]

well i have a BIG crank pulley on my gze, so i want to get an underdrive pulley so there is some clearance between the two. the engine still has the fwd pump on it.....

at the moment, there is less than 1mm

[Sam-Q]

but an under-drive pulley is larger?

if your thinking of putting a smaller pulley on your engine for the water pump then don't. There is enough cavitation issues with the standard pulley size let alone if you make it smaller.

[slide86]

hmmm yeah you are right.......im sure ive seen a smaller pulley available....but id rather stay with the stock one than introduce more cooling issures.

its going to be a real close fit

[Nikkojoe]

What most do is (and what mine was) machine down the outer ribbed edges of the pulley, about 1-2mm in radius which should then clear the crank. This was done to my 178mm pulley, 175 can sometimes get away with it.

[Sam-Q]

if you need that machined then let us know