Electric Assist Project: E-charger (2000 Subaru Outback) - Page 19 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

ShadeTreeMech · 10-18-2010, 08:50 PM

the giant washer is going on the idler pulley? be sure to bevel the edges if you do this.

You might have your machinist friend help you figure out the alignement issue. It could be your idler pulley causing the issue.

Phantom · 10-19-2010, 12:40 PM

I just thought to make it a little easier to check the angle of the idler pulley use a gap feeler like for spark plugs. Use it to check the distance between the plate and the pulley look on different sides and see it the gap is the same.

I know that you could not fit a smaller belt on there but I can't help but think that it needs to be tighter. Does that engine have an idler tension pulley at all on it?

brucey · 10-19-2010, 09:32 PM

Phantom: If you're referring to the last picture, the belt isn't tensioned there. The only tension on the belt is from the alternator.

3dplane · 10-20-2010, 12:33 AM

Can you stick some kind of straight edge down there against the side of the pulleys?
That should indicate where the angle problem is located. I know your custom pulley is double wide but it would still show an angle difference in relation to the rest of the pulleys.
( if there is room! )

dcb · 10-20-2010, 07:33 AM

a $3 laser pointer might be helpful too, for alignment.

brucey · 10-20-2010, 06:58 PM

Good news everyone! Finally fixed the pulley walking. I added some angle to the idler pulley and the walk went right away. Maybe it was the problem all long. Took it for a quick drive around the block, but didn't have time to get too good of a test of the belt since it's mid-day traffic currently.

The only problem now, is I'm getting a slight bit of noise in the AC12 motor pulley. Probably from where the shaft had to be ground on. I plan to fix this by simply drilling and tapping the end of the shaft and having a bolt hold the assembly in place with an extra sleeve that the pulley guy made.

One last thing. I realized only JUST NOW that the pulleys are not lined up from the factory. They're spaced about a rib apart between the crank, power steering, and alternator. I wonder if this had something to do with why I couldn't get them to line up properly, as I was lining them up based on a straight line between the 2 pulleys and carrying it on.

ShadeTreeMech · 10-26-2010, 01:09 PM

so........

how's it going?

brucey · 10-26-2010, 06:02 PM

No real updates. I needed a bit of a breather after the headache that was getting the pulley walk to stop. Catching up on other things now. I don't plan to do much on this project until after this weekend.

brucey · 11-04-2010, 11:55 PM

Just a quick update on this:

I still plan to get most of the parts connected to the car within a week. It's just a matter of finding the time. I worked on the pulley some more today, drilled a whole and need to tape a shaft so that I can put a bolt on it and lock the pulley in place. It slightly rattles currently and that's not acceptable to me.

But I've decided to put the controller inside the car, underneath the driver seat for the time being. I'm hoping there it can get enough air but still be protected from the sun and foot traffic. Once that's in, I can measure the amount of wire I need and hook everything up.

Hopefully that and some batteries and I'll be in the proof of concept stage.

TomEV · 11-05-2010, 06:08 AM

Depending on the controller you have, and the amount of power you require, it might not put out much heat.

I have an Alltrax 7245 mounted on a piece of 1/4" aluminum about twice the size of the controller.

In my application, it is generally lightly loaded during cruise speed (about 6kW) and does not get much more than 20 degrees F above ambient temp.