NonStopTuning Supercharger Pulley Installed!

[Matt in Houston]

Switching pulleys can be VERY dangerous and is NOT recommended. You can damage your kit, blow up your car, or even injure yourself and others on the road around you. Keep this in mind and proceed at your OWN RISK. I, Non-Stop Tuning, and the lotustalk.com forum shall not be held liable for any damages/injury based on any information contained in this post.


This last Saturday I was able to obtain a 3.2" pulley made by http://www.nonstoptuning.com here in Houston, TX.


I'm not sure, but I think they will only be offering 3.1" pulleys.
They cost $110, and can be ordered directly from their website. -->http://www.nonstoptuning.com/pKitLotElise.htm
I've been looking for a pulley for a while now, and I was excited to find a source!...





Plus, I decided to write up another short "how-to" in case anyone else is interested in seeing some detailed pics...

WARNING: INSTALL PULLEY AT YOUR OWN RISK

Tools:

19mm socket
18mm socket
Socket wrench
Pulley puller (Can be rented/bought from autoparts stores.)
New smaller sized belt...recommend Dayco/Dayco Gold.
By the way, all of this was much easier with a helper.



First, back the car up on ramps. Make sure you have the car in gear and the e-brake is on tightly. Unbolt the rear undertray, you can leave the diffuser in place. Once under the car, looking up at the belt, find the two nuts that you will need to access. One is the tensioner nut (19mm) to add slack to remove the belt, and the other nut is the supercharger pulley nut (18mm).






I decided to leave the belt on to see if I could remove the nut on the supercharger pulley while my helper tightly held the pulley by reaching into the engine bay from above. This may or may not work for you, but it turned out VERY easy and took a matter of seconds. I had my car in sixth gear so maybe that helped keep the belt from moving with the pulleys as I torqued the nut off.





Once the supercharger pulley nut was completely off, I located the tensioner nut to create slack for removal of the belt. I used a 19mm socket to fit, and then a piece of pipe slipped over the wrench to extend the length. Push the pipe toward the back of the car, and it will slacken the belt so you can take it off. It may be a good idea to take some pics of the belt in place if you dont have a diagram to help when putting the belt back on.






The next thing I did was remove the stock pulley from the supercharger. Mine was on pretty tightly, and it took a little bit to take it off. Your best bet is to use a pulley puller tool. Once the pulley was off, I compared it to the new 3.2" pulley. The new pulley was smaller and MUCH LIGHTER.





Next, install the new pulley. I marked it with a sharpie marker on the outside off the neck so that I could easily line it up with the notch on the supercharger. It turned out to be a helpful tip. The pulley needs to be lightly greased for ease of installation. Make sure the notch lines up, or the pulley will not slide on.





Once the pulley is on, double check and make sure it is on all the way. It should be straight, and the ribs should line up perfectly with the alternator pulley in front of it. Tighten the 18mm nut back onto the supercharger pulley. It may help to take the old belt and wrap it around the supercharger pulley, and have your friend hold it tight as you torque the bolt back on. Either way, get it as tight as you can, but you will get another chance to check it once the new belt is back on. It may also be good to add a bit of lock-tight to the threads before you put the nut back on.


Now replace the belt using your 19mm socket to slack the tensioner. Use the diagram that came with your supercharger or use the pics that you took before you removed the belt. Make sure the belt is tight. You should be able to at least fit a belt that is 1/2" inch or shorter than before. With some extra effort, I was able to snug on a belt a full inch shorter.


Double check your belt, make sure it is on correctly. Double check and tighten your supercharger nut...have your helper hold the pulley just like before when first removing the nut. Once you are sure everything is on properly, bolt the undertray back on and take her for a spin. Keep in mind that the ECU may take 200 miles to fully learn, so I would avoid immediate and prolonged WOT runs. Also, it is advisable to have an A/F guage to keep an eye on things. An intake charge temp gauge is also highly recommended.


After the install, I noticed immediate improvement throughout the powerband. The car seems very quick and more responsive. Also the supercharger whine is slightly increased.


Be safe...

-Matt in Houston

[Thomasio]

Anyone do this on an Exige S yet? (With stock ECU)

[Chili Red]

Originally Posted by Thomasio

Anyone do this on an Exige S yet? (With stock ECU)

Your probably asking for trouble to do this on the Exige S.. They only reason Matt is able to do this is that the Katana tune runs a bit rich...

[andrewgotanelise]

Good write up. When i did i didnt use a pulley puller and it was a bitch to put on. I did feel a lil more umph and the dynos from 3.4 to 3.2 seem to be about +-5 whp. Tell me how your oil temps get. My temps have gone up since the smaller pulley. Good luck!

[exarkun1178]

im still really new to all this, but wouldn't you now need a new tune?

[Matt in Houston]

Originally Posted by exarkun1178

im still really new to all this, but wouldn't you now need a new tune?

I think you would want a new tune to get optimum power from the pulley change, but the Katana is still a learning ECU and several people have had good results changing the pulley size and not messing with the tune.

[scottyb]

I just did this mod as well to my 06 Katana last night. Wish I thought of keeping the belt on to loosen the nut on the pulley.

I will be monitoring my A/F after I hook up my Aquamist system. Matt we should definitely compare logs to see how well Charlie's 06 Katana Tune handles the change in pulley size.

[Matt in Houston]

Originally Posted by scottyb

I just did this mod as well to my 06 Katana last night. Wish I thought of keeping the belt on to loosen the nut on the pulley.

I will be monitoring my A/F after I hook up my Aquamist system. Matt we should definitely compare logs to see how well Charlie's 06 Katana Tune handles the change in pulley size.

Agreed...I will be logging after the install of the 2bular sport cat. I have heard the 06 katana tune is fairly rich...I think it will probably work well with the added boost.

[choi0706]

Nice! I have a pulley set from Nonstoptuning as well.. Good stuff..

[Matt in Houston]

Originally Posted by choi0706

Nice! I have a pulley set from Nonstoptuning as well.. Good stuff..

I'm thinking of ordering a set of pulleys from them, do you think it well make much of a difference?

[wildwhl]

Originally Posted by Thomasio

Anyone do this on an Exige S yet? (With stock ECU)

Yes, don't recommend it (3.1" pulley from www.pulleyboys.com part number 6KAH310 is a direct fit for the Exige S - the 310 stands for size) ran strange and my guess was it is far too lean. Now with Gotham, still don't recommend it though I left it on anyway

I have a 3.0" pulley from Dave that I cut the backspacing for sale, save the cut off part so it likely will still work on a Katana (can't guarantee it).

WW

[wildwhl]

Originally Posted by scottyb

I just did this mod as well to my 06 Katana last night. Wish I thought of keeping the belt on to loosen the nut on the pulley.

I will be monitoring my A/F after I hook up my Aquamist system. Matt we should definitely compare logs to see how well Charlie's 06 Katana Tune handles the change in pulley size.

scotty -

what do you use to datalog/monitor?

WW

[LBC111]

Hmmm.. Note the ridges(??) in the stock vs the aftermarket pulley. The stock has sharper edges, the aftermarket is much wider. Wouldn't this affect adherence to the belt?

[wildwhl]

Good observation - to be honest - I don't know.

WW

[Matt in Houston]

Originally Posted by wildwhl

Good observation - to be honest - I don't know.

WW

I noticed it as well, but I wasnt much concerned. I put the belt on super tight, and I havent heard a squeek or any slipping noises.

Who's to say which pulley has better grip? I'm not sure, but I did experience slipping with the stock pulley and the belt that came with the Katana kit.

[choi0706]

Originally Posted by LBC111

Hmmm.. Note the ridges(??) in the stock vs the aftermarket pulley. The stock has sharper edges, the aftermarket is much wider. Wouldn't this affect adherence to the belt?

I spoke with Mike@NST about this.. He insured me that the ridges would not adversely affect the pulley performance.. They fabricate many pulleys for both supercharged and naturally aspirated vehicles without any problems..

I also have a NST pulley set on my car.. I had it installed about a year ago and no problems with slipping..

[Matt in Houston]

UPDATE:

I have now driven over 200 miles with the upgraded pulley, mostly around the city and on the tollways....

I also changed my stock sparkplugs to a 1 step colder NGK Iridium plug.

Car is running very fast and smooth. No issues what-so-ever. At higher speeds, the smaller pulley seems to really make a difference at the top end. I have also noticed improvement with mid-range torque.

Overall, big thumbs up. I will post A/F when my sport cat finally arrives.

-Matt

[scottyb]

Sounds great! I've been snowed in here in CT as soon as I upgraded. Just got my Aquamist system in the mail today, so hopefully I'll be logging by the weekend too.

How are your A/F ratios looking with the 06 and 10 pound pulley?

[choi0706]

Matt told me his a/f ratios are looking great.. Look for a graph soon..


On a side note, I spoke with NST last night.. They expect pulleys to be in stock mid March..

[charliex]

Just keep him in cold weather.