Installing Steeda Underdrive Pulleys for Beginners

[propellerhead]

I recently installed Steeda Underdrive Pulleys on my 04 Mustang GT. I had my mechanic do all the work while I took pictures. I thought I'd share. If you're thinking about getting underdrive pulleys and plan to do the work yourself, this thread will give you an idea of what you're up for. If you've done this before and don't mess around, you could get it done in an hour or two. We took about four hours to do this and take pics. It's really simple and in this thread, I point out nuances of doing this on a car with an automatic transmission. I hope you find it useful.


propellerhead

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First, get all your stuff together. The underdrive pulley kit, torque wrench and gasket maker. If you haven't replaced your serpentine belt lately, this would be a good time to do so. (Click on the pics to zoom in)



We will be replacing the three pulleys in the middle of the picture below. The top one is the alternator pulley. The one immediately below it is the water pump pulley. The rusty one below that is the crankshaft pulley. You will need an impact wrench to remove the alternator pulley. Without an impact wrench, you can remove the alternator and take it to AutoZone. They'll swap the alternator pulley for you. Some people choose not to replace the alternator pulley. That's your call.



As shown in the first pic, there's no room to get the impact wrench in there. You need to move the coolant overflow tank out of the way first. Remove three nuts. Lift up on the coolant overflow tank and twist it out of the way.



With the serpentine belt still on, loosen the alternator pulley. Do not try to pull it off yet. The serpentine belt is still holding it tight. Loosen the four bolts holding the water pump pulley. Do not remove the bolts yet.



Use a 3/8 inch ratchet or breaker bar and twist the serpentine belt tensioner clockwise towards the driver's side. Remove the serpentine belt off the pulleys. Remove both the alternator pulley and the water pump pulley.



If you haven't yet, jack up the front end of the car and support it on jackstands. It is possible to do the rest of the task without jacking up the car but you'll hurt your back bending over for the next hour or so. It's easier to lay on the floor. If you have a 5-speed transmission, you can put the car in gear and set the parking brake to prevent the engine from turning when you try to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt. With an automatic transmission, the engine will turn whenever you turn the crankshaft pulley bolt. You can open the stall converter access panel and hold one of the nuts with a wrench. Or you can use an impact wrench. It just works better for either case.

If you're using an impact wrench, you'll see that there's no way to get an impact wrench in there so you need to remove the cooling fan assembly. If you have a 5-speed and will be using a breaker bar, you can skip removing the cooling fan assembly.



Locate the two bolts holding the cooling fan. There's one on each end. Disconnect two electrical connectors. Lift up on the cooling fan starting with the driver's side. It will take a little bit of wiggling but it will come out.



Remove the crankshaft bolt. Remove the washer.



Study the crankshaft pulley for a minute. You will be attaching a pulley puller so it will help to know what you're dealing with. See those three threaded holes? The pulley puller tool will screw into those holes to hold the pulley. They only need to be finger tight. The middle bolt on the pulley puller will rest in the center. Turn the center bolt clockwise. This will drive it towards the engine, which will pull the pulley away from the engine. (Edit: Based on another thread I saw...) Make sure you removed the crankshaft bolt washer. Sometimes it gets stuck in there. If you don't remove this washer, the pulley puller won't work.



You're halfway there... Time for the installation.

Put a dab of gasket maker into the key slot on the Steeeda crankshaft pulley. What the hell is a dab? I don't know. We guessed it was the same dab as toothpaste. My mechanic tried it using her finger but that seemed to make a mess. Using the plastic applicator that came with the gasket maker worked better.



Line up the key and push the pulley onto the crankshaft. Insert the crankshaft pulley bolt that came with the Steeda Pulley kit. Turn it so it pulls the pulley towards the engine block. Do not tighten this bolt. You only need it to pull the pulley towards the engine. Remove this bolt and install the factory pulley bolt. Torque it per the Steeda instructions.



Installing the crankshaft pulley was the biggest challenge we encountered. It was hard to keep the pulley still while tightening it with a torque wrench due to the automatic transmission. Having a second person and a strap wrench helped a lot. Also, jacking up the front end pretty high also helped. It gave us more room to move under the car.

Install the Steeda water pump pulley and alternator pulley. Tighten the nuts to specs. You may need to use a strap wrench to hold the pulley.



Install the cooling fan assembly. The bottom is held in by a clip towards the passenger side, and another one on the drivers side. Make sure the fan shroud catches the clips. Install the two bolts and connect the two electrical connectors.



Reinstall the coolant recovery tank. Install the new serpentine belt. Stand back and enjoy the moment. You did good!



The end.

 

[Chili]

That's greatness..

 

[Red2000GT]

Ummmm.....it's great that your mechanic is a woman and all but what's with the but shots? What purpose do they serve? What exactly are they showing to do? Does your mechanic always come to YOUR garage to do the work? How many other mechanics do you know with the long "pornstar" fingernails?

 

[trinity_gt]

Great tech propellerhead.

 

[propellerhead]

Ummmm.....it's great that your mechanic is a woman and all but what's with the but shots? What purpose do they serve? What exactly are they showing to do? Does your mechanic always come to YOUR garage to do the work? How many other mechanics do you know with the long "pornstar" fingernails?

Ma'am, I am sorry that my post offends you. Unfortunately, I cannot shelter you from the real world so the least I can do is warn you of other items that might offend you.

1. Avoid any weight loss commercial in a magazine or TV. They show dirty dirty women in their underwear. Sometimes they don't even show the face. Just chest and butt shots. Ugh! How dirty!

2. Avoid anything on TV. They often show women with short sleeve shirts on. Sometimes in shorts too! I feel that's way too less clothing for your standards.

3. Avoid beaches, swimming pools, saunas, etc. There are a lot of women in bikinis. Sometimes they are even shown kissing. Yuck!

4. Avoid the last few pages of 5.0 Mustang magazine. They have this really sleazy and dirty Babe Of The Month section with girls posing next to cars. Can you imagine that?!

The intent of my post is to point out some of the issues one would encounter when installed underdrive pulleys. There are many instructions out there but they are often very quick and basic. They don't give you any hint of possible complications in the task. Its target audience is the novice Mustang owner who wants to do work on their car but might be a little afraid of the unknown. I'm sorry that pictures of my girl friend offend you. By the way, she's not really a mechanic.

Mods: Red2000GT has spoken. I believe she would like this thread locked. If that is truly her wish, then so be it.


Edit: Ma'am, you might consider avoiding the entire Mustang hobby as well. Traditionally, the American Muscle car craze and hot women go hand in hand. You can also consider moving to the Middle East where a beautiful woman is never part of any icon.

 

[ceyko]

Ummmm.....it's great that your mechanic is a woman and all but what's with the but shots? What purpose do they serve? What exactly are they showing to do? Does your mechanic always come to YOUR garage to do the work? How many other mechanics do you know with the long "pornstar" fingernails?

I WISH I had a mechanic with pornstar nails.

 

[TheDamned]

Nice butt shot! lol

 

[GToddyT5]

Why did you get that woman to pose with the wrench as if she's working on the car? I'm so confused.

 

[propellerhead]

Why did you get that woman to pose with the wrench as if she's working on the car? I'm so confused.

What's confusing about that? She did the work. I just directed and took pics.

Yes, folks. Underdrive pulleys are easy to install.

 

['03GTinFLA]

WOW. What is the big deal with this thread. Thanks Propellerhead for the write up. I wish someone would have done this before I did mine and ran into issues that would have not been an issue if I would have read this. And thank you for making it entertaining and putting your gf in there. I see your mug enough in your avatar. If anyone has a problem with this I suggest getting a life. It's like TV, if you don't like what you see change the channel.
Thanks again propellerhead. I think I'll do a write up of something and put my gf in there. She likes working on our cars. We could start a whole category of tech instruction. Fun for everyone.

 

[propellerhead]

WOW. What is the big deal with this thread. Thanks Propellerhead for the write up. I wish someone would have done this before I did mine and ran into issues that would have not been an issue if I would have read this. And thank you for making it entertaining and putting your gf in there. I see your mug enough in your avatar. If anyone has a problem with this I suggest getting a life. It's like TV, if you don't like what you see change the channel.
Thanks again propellerhead. I think I'll do a write up of something and put my gf in there. She likes working on our cars. We could start a whole category of tech instruction. Fun for everyone.

Thanks, man. I know I can address you as such.

PS. Avatar check!

 

[GToddyT5]

What's confusing about that? She did the work. I just directed and took pics.

Yes, folks. Underdrive pulleys are easy to install.

That was a joke.

 

[propellerhead]

That was a joke.

Sorry. The absence of smilies or "hahaha" made it look like you were serious.

 

[Red2000GT]

LOL! Well,it's funny that you think i was offended by the pics,but that wasn't the case. I merely pointed out that trying to pass off a woman,who is clearly your gf,as a mechanic,IN THE TECH FORUM maybe wasn't the best idea. If you had posted this in any talk forum i would have read your "joking" intent as such. Thanks for the write up,anyways.

 

[1992 2.3LX]

LOL! Well,it's funny that you think i was offended by the pics,but that wasn't the case. I merely pointed out that trying to pass off a woman,who is clearly your gf,as a mechanic,IN THE TECH FORUM maybe wasn't the best idea. If you had posted this in any talk forum i would have read your "joking" intent as such. Thanks for the write up,anyways.

i am thinking joke. don't quite think he was trying to pass it off. but are you saying attractive females can't be mechanics?

 

[Dragstr05]

That install took 4 hours? Looks like a 1 hour job to me.

 

[SilverBullet00]

Traditionally, the American Muscle car craze and hot women go hand in hand.

So true

I love it, nice write up! How is the SOTP feel?

 

[ceyko]

i am thinking joke. don't quite think he was trying to pass it off. but are you saying attractive females can't be mechanics?

He'd answer, but his mechanic is busy working on his crank.

 

[BennyBlown2v]

I did pulley swap in 20 minutes flat... 4hrs is hilarious!

 

[whyask]

20 minutes or 4 hours WHO CARES!.... STILL A GREAT WRITE UP !
Thanks for posting it.