The Steve Dinan Conspiracy!

[Sherwin@xcede]

So a while back Steve writes an article about the dangers of pulleys:

http://www.dinancars.com/bmw/techni...pulleys-and-understanding-the-harmonic-damper

I wish to explain the potential dangers of these products and address the damage they cause to engines

Basically the article says there are almost no gains & a big chance of breaking your engine due to the harmonic balance of the engine being compromised. Dinan used to attack Rogue, Evosport & all the pulley companies claiming they showed no gains, etc.

Then I see a few months ago Dinan released their own pulley kit for the E9X M3:

http://www.dinancars.com/store/product.php?productid=4681&cat=818&page=1

"Dinan's lightweight crankshaft pulley is constructed of Aircraft grade billet 6061 aluminum that is anodized black and engraved. It does not modify factory harmonics or dampening and safely underdrives the belt driven water pump, alternator, AC and power steering to reduce parasitic power loss on the M3 engine. It produces a peak gain of + 11 horsepower @ 8400 rpm and + 7 lb-ft torque @ 8400 rpm on a stock car.
The kit includes lightweight pulley and shorter belts for bolt on installation."

So yeah, be careful who you classify as an expert, especially in a country that has different spec cars to the ones we get.

 

[///Marksman]

don't question Dinan

they are the bestest!

 

[StK]

Sherwin-Did you even watch the youtube video in the 2nd link?

 

[rick540]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know the harmonic balancer and pulley are separate components, and his article Steve talks about replacing the entire setup as being dangerous which it certainly is.

The above advertized by them is just an individual lightweight smaller pulley that would be raplaced not affecting the harmonic balancer, that's because the smaller pulley just bolts onto the harmonic balancer which in this case would remain safely bolted to the end of the crank.

And I quote "It does not modify factory harmonics "

I think he's not contradicting himself at all.....

 

[Sherwin@xcede]

Yeah that was his marketing campaign, that his system does not interfere with the harmonic balancing. But the other players at the time claimed the same. But Dinan always took them down, no matter what they claimed. And when he criticised them he always said, "You gonna risk your engine for 2-3hp?"

Which meant he always stated that pulleys were a waste of time and the maximum gain you could get was 2hp. So now he sells pulleys and suddenly the gains are more than 2hp. So he has done an about turn.

 

[rick540]

You know it's wierd, I've seen broken pistons, valves, blocks, conrods, but never in my life seen a broken crank.....I suppose it happens but never seen it.

 

[Raybimmer]

Elastic deformation is exactely that , the material ( crank in this instance ) is subject to external forces ( e.g. the brake mean effective pressure on the piston top caused by combustion is passed as a compressive stress through the bearings to the crank and a tensile force exists as the piston returns to top dead centre ) The design engineer knows the magnitude of these forces and designs to withstand these forces . Yes cranks snap but IMHO not from a pulley that is basically round and balanced and of a smaller diameter .Also disagree with some other comments,will add later

 

[STREETRACER]

You know it's wierd, I've seen broken pistons, valves, blocks, conrods, but never in my life seen a broken crank.....I suppose it happens but never seen it.

Broken cranks i have seen!!! mainly on 3.2 M3's.. 1. from over-revving and keeping it in the limiter for a period of time! and 2nd. one is use a too light flywheel!! The Light flywheel transfers all the shudders to the crank, where a slight heavier one reduces vibrations! the lightest safe weight for an E36 3.2 is 6.8kg..

 

[George Smooth]

You know it's wierd, I've seen broken pistons, valves, blocks, conrods, but never in my life seen a broken crank.....I suppose it happens but never seen it.

Broken cranks i have seen!!! mainly on 3.2 M3's.. 1. from over-revving and keeping it in the limiter for a period of time! and 2nd. one is use a too light flywheel!! The Light flywheel transfers all the shudders to the crank, where a slight heavier one reduces vibrations! the lightest safe weight for an E36 3.2 is 6.8kg..

Streetracer has valid points. I broke two crankshafts on my E36 M3 Turbo. The first one broke due to a dry sump pulley and the second one due to too much power causing the crankshaft to whip in the block.

 

[STREETRACER]

You know it's wierd, I've seen broken pistons, valves, blocks, conrods, but never in my life seen a broken crank.....I suppose it happens but never seen it.

Broken cranks i have seen!!! mainly on 3.2 M3's.. 1. from over-revving and keeping it in the limiter for a period of time! and 2nd. one is use a too light flywheel!! The Light flywheel transfers all the shudders to the crank, where a slight heavier one reduces vibrations! the lightest safe weight for an E36 3.2 is 6.8kg..

Streetracer has valid points. I broke two crankshafts on my E36 M3 Turbo. The first one broke due to a dry sump pulley and the second one due to too much power causing the crankshaft to whip in the block.

Bud looking at your rides and car history you are my new hero.. :thumbsup:

 

[Major]

Maybe he still thinks that lighter crank pulleys are a non-beneficial fad, but since they still sell like hotcakes he's jumping onto the wagon? I for one would only change to lighter accessory pulleys and a lighter flywheel.