Hi guys. i have finally got the 550 Barchetta water pump pulley for my 550 Maranello. I plan to fit it myself, but I wonder if someone have done it before and can tell me how they did it? The pulley has no cone, just a «slot» at the hole where the taper on the axle will match. So the question is if I can just take off the screw in the center and if it can slide off or go off with a puller? Put the new pulley on along with the somewhat shorter serpentine belt. thanks Erik Image Unavailable, Please Login
what is the point, Is that smaller than standard 550 pulley? Yes the process is same if center hole is same size.
Can I ask why you want to change the pulley? It is not something that is normally replaced unless its damaged in some way or another. Why are you doing this?
I am doing it to make the water flow faster at idle like on the 550 Barchetta that came out in 2001, to let the engine run cooler while the fans are blowing constantly. My radiator have no problems cooling down the engine at speeds of 30 mph. or more, but at idle, it overheats in stop and go traffic. I replaced the shroud where the fans are to 575 shroud that covers the complete radiator, and it helped quite a bit, but not enough. This is next step and I am eager to see the difference once I get down to France/Monaco in the real heat. I am not going to drive down to France from Norway before I have at least done this thing. I am also interested to do one modification at a time to see what each mod is making for an improvement.
Erik, I had similar cooling issues as you, no problem when moving, but getting too hot (close to last white line on gauge) standing still in traffic on a hot day. Made driving in the city on hot days worrisome. Over the winter I removed and cleaned the radiator, installed the 575 shroud as well as new fans (550 fans, not 575 fans), rebuilt my water pump with OE parts, and in order to protect the fuse box, wired the fans directly to the battery and used the original wiring to trigger new relays between the battery and fans (made a wiring harness, so easy to remove and plug original connectors to fans if I ever want to return to original). The change was significant. Now I can sit in traffic in 36C heat and the car won't pass 190F on the gauge. This summer in Toronto has been pretty hot (for Toronto), and I haven't thought about the coolant temp all summer!! My opinion is that the new fans made the most change, you can hear they are louder than the old, and the old were loud. I think the old fans were getting tired. The photo below is after driving in traffic for 45 mins, AC on full. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I guess its expected that 20 year old components are getting tired by now, plus these cars sit more than your average car so get more sedimentation in the rads. Big V12s make a ton of heat so keeping the cooling system fresh is money well spent
Inside of my rad was ok, I've changed my coolant every winter since I've owned it (along with all other fluids). The issue was in between the radiator and the AC condenser. You just can't really get to that space without removing and so over the years there is a buildup of debris. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Pully is woodruff keyed. You might not need puller. Nut off then taps 360 degrees get it moving should slide off. If no then puller. Never had one on too tight. So you using barchetta pully and barchetta length belt or there is enough travel for stock 550 belt?
Hi. I ordered the 550 Barchetta pulley with the right belt. I will have it installed shortly. Have just not had the time to do it. Busy days in the go fast boat business
Thanks for the update. I was also considering doing this. Let us know if it makes a difference. Thanks.
Ok, I purchased the 102mm water pump pulley. I think the original size was 120mm. It hasn’t been hot here, but the coolant temp does seem to run cooler now but now the oil temp seems too low. Here is a picture: Image Unavailable, Please Login
