To be fair, this idler pulley popping off means it wasn't torqued properly to begin with. Which means this is 100% IPP's fault.
Nobody touched that pulley ever since the engine was given to me, because there was no reason to touch it.
Am I going to call IPP and tell them it's their fault? Probably not.

Unless the pulley came out and cracked my block causing a hole somewhere which makes oil leaks that will cost a fortune to fix, only then will I fight IPP for that. I'm still under warranty technically since it's only february and I didn't purchase the block and get it to me until like April / May ish of last year.

Lol.

So many issues I'm laughing about it now at this point.

I'm thinking to bring it to one person who is extremely mechanically inclined, and having them look over the entire car and look for any critical issues that may be, and have it fixed then and there.

Tired of playing the exponentially growing whack-a-mole game with these issues haha

Get it to Eugene.

I dunno what to tell you about your build but my IPP stage two is on the left in the picture just like it came off the pallet. Everything else was transferred from my block on the right.

Oh man. I think you're totally right haha

Now I know who to blame for that pulley then, thanks! Good thing you reminded me cuz i actually never saw the block when it came in from IPP.
I assumed it came with pulleys and everything but nope.

It was actually my mechanic who worked on the Red Z last year.

Damnit. Okay.

On it already. I let him know that next week I will bring the car to him either if it's drive-able by tomorrow I will drive it there sometime next week, or I will get it towed there using 1/4 of my AAA tows of the year.

He said it was alright to bring it to him.

He was actually supposed to look at it anyways but the car broke before I could even get it to him and it was raining over there too so that's another reason why he told me not to bring it to him.



EDIT:

I'm having AAA tow it to his house tomorrow morning. Since they are least busy at that time and least traffic too since Saturday morning!

Rough Ride :icon14:
Hopefully you’ll get everything straightened out :ugh2:

Hey, man. You like to play cards at all? We get a game of poker going every now and then... :icon17: Hope your luck changes for the better, soon.

You and me both man.
I really hope it changes for the better too.
Tbh, 2019 has been better overall than 2018 has.

Last year in the first 2 months of 2018 my engine threw a rod causing 3 giant holes in it.

This year first two months I only lost the compresser idler pulley lol.

And yes I love cards xD

I appreciate you all and for following this rough journey of mine, and for always supporting the entire time. It really does mean a lot and I wanted to share that with you all :)

My hope is that leaving the car with Eugene for a few days, the car will be street driveable without something popping off, leaking, overheating, breaking, etc. Haha.

Will defs keep you all updated!!!

I don't think Eugene will let your car leave his shop if it's NOT street driveable, if something is popping off, leaking or overheating. With your track record, I don't think he can guarantee the breaking part. 🤣

Haha you know what I mean you silly!!!!
I just want it better off than what it is now.
Ofc i cant get a gaurantee but hey i honestly feel safest with the vehicle in his hands than anyone elses' right now xD
Your absolutely right though!!!

*** Quick Small Update ***

AAA is currently taking my car to Eugene's house shortly.
Eugene has asked to keep the car there for 1 - 2 weeks as to make sure it is safe for when I drive it back home.

I really appreciate the guy more than this statement says.
I didn't expect him to diagnose the car at no charge, and even more -- I did not expect him to ask me to keep the car there for 1 - 2 weeks.

He told me he will do the best he can (and I know he will, especially with how meticulous he is with his work. And that he will even want to put a couple hundred miles on it to make sure the car is running safe and healthy, as well as do a lot of tuning on the car in person which I'm really happy about.

I told him that if my budget allows it, I will ask him to install the AAM Oil Pan Spacer kit as well as my yellow stuff brake pads that I left in the car in case, as well as if the budget allows it -- some brand new genuine akebono rotors as well.

He asked if I wanted to put it on the dyno machine not for tuning for power, but to make sure a few other things is okay with the car. I told him if the budget at the time allows for it, then sure, because it will cost about $600 to do so.

But before any of that I want to make sure it is free of all coolant, oil, transmission, blah blah blah you name it liquid leaks as well as the bolts are torqued to spec, and the parts on the car are genuine OEM parts and not any made in china parts. (I believe the pulley I purchased from O'reilleys was made in china -- the stock idler pulley that goes on the top of the SC bracket next to the jackshaft lol on the serpentine belt).

I also have a new polyurethane engine motor mount to swap in if time / budget allows it but that's not my concern right now so I will highly likely put that off til another time.

There's also some oil leak occurring somewhere in which I don't know where so I'm hoping to God that it is not from a cracked block due to the pulley popping off and hitting my block somehow causing oil leaks, as I saw there was oil above the oil pan and I'm hoping that was from the oil pan itself while driving which made it splash up there and nothing major. But we'll find out.

Stay tuned folks! Updates Updates Updates! Thread's alive again! haha.

Love you all <33

*Quick Update*

- Ordered two brand new stub axles to match the 09 Z

- My engine & transmission was being held on by a few bolts (maybe a 3rd or half of the bolts I was supposed to have -- they were completely not there!!!)

- Car has been in Eugene's shop (ByThaBay forum user) for about 4 days now.

- He found a whole slew of issues with the car, but I know it will all be taken care of.

- A custom adapter was made for the oil cooler sandwich plate because the previous one sucked

- Lower Oil Pan was re-gasketed correctly

- As for the stock idler pulley on the engine that slipped out a week ago, Someone damaged the threads before, There is a thread insert in the hole so the original bolt that supposed to go in there doesn't fit -- we need to find right bolt that has correct shoulder for threading to match the thread inserts. Eugene brought it to a machine shop and is getting this taken care of. Guy says he will try to find the correct wider bolt but if not he will find a solution for it somehow, so that's good news for us!

- He recommends I get a new rear control arm, and possibly go back to stock height / stock suspension and get rid of the KW V3's (Not sure if I want to do that though, I love my KW V3s) -- Instead I may just invest in some airbags to deal with any speed bumps / potholes I may run into on the road. He recommends this to avoid a lot of potential damage, since there's a lot of damage under the car from bottoming it out against things and if I put it to stock height it will be a lot safer for me to not damage the car

- Ordered a new battery for my car and wants me to return the YellowTop Optima battery (~$300 for that fresh battery), thankfully I can return it.

- Ordered new differential stopping plates because I was missing them in my car (I don't even know what those are tbh)

- The wiring harness / engine bay harness was redone and took ~5 hours to put properly with the engine still in the car because the wiring was all bad and messed up / in dangerous positions

- Needs new tires because the ones that came with the car when I purchased it are bald (I'm thinking to get R888's or something)


*More updates to come*

Dang man, you sure you didn't end up with your old car again?? Jk

R888s are great but they become really dangerous in anything but warm weather and perfect road conditions. A little rain will send you all over the place. They are a hair away from Drags.

Hahah that's what I BE SAYIN!!!! Am I sure my yellow car isn't red underneath? xD

That is good to know. I may not get R888s then since it tends to rain here where I live / travel to often. Definitely not good lol. I may look into some all weather tires then!

I wouldn't go as extreme as all weather. You do live in California. Just find a performance tire that's good in wet conditions. Like Pilot super sports or something. Not cheap but worth it. Trust me.