Hey I found this post on another scion forum in reference to turbo charging the xB:

ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WITH THE SCIONS ARE THE CRANK PULLEY IS MADE OUT OF PLASTIC FOR SAFETY( A TOYOTA TECH TOLD ME) SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO PUT A JDM SUPERCHARGER ON YOUR SCION YOU HAVE TO BUY THE JDM PULLEY WHICH IS MADE OUT OF METAL. THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE REASONS TRD IS GOING TO PRODUCE A TURBO RATHER THAN A SUPERSCHARGER FOR THE SCIONS. I

Any Scion owners/dealers/whatever know if this is true? I sincerely hope not! :evil:

Crank pulley made out of plastic??!?!?
i never looked into an echo motor that deeply but hey! you never know
auto engineers do some stupid things

No wonder why our cars are so affordable!!!

Anyway it's very well possible but I never heard about any needed upgrades for the pulley.

hmmm...well thanks for the input. I guess I'll hafta wait and find out for sure...thanks again!

anyone here ever worked on a motor before?

there is NO WAY the crank pulley is made of plastic!

there is way to much stress and strain and even if you could get stong enough plastic, it would give, and having a crank pulley that had a streching effect would serriously screw up the timing of your motor.

it's not made of plastic, there are no cars that have a plastic crank pulley (maybe a model car, but no street cars, i'm sure)

and do you think that a chunk of steel stamped out would be MORE expensice than a injection molded peice of plastic? of course not!

Ok,I've never worked on cars.
Here's a stupid question. :oops:

What's a crank pulley?

anyone here ever worked on a motor before?

there is NO WAY the crank pulley is made of plastic!

there is way to much stress and strain and even if you could get stong enough plastic, it would give, and having a crank pulley that had a streching effect would serriously screw up the timing of your motor.

it's not made of plastic, there are no cars that have a plastic crank pulley (maybe a model car, but no street cars, i'm sure)

and do you think that a chunk of steel stamped out would be MORE expensice than a injection molded peice of plastic? of course not!

pardon my ignorance...sheesh! Not everyone is an omniscient guru of cars.

hey! don't take it personal - i was just amazed to see that after a few days nobody that had a working knowledge of a motor chimed in, on this post!

but ya, almost nothing inside a modern motor is made of plastic - except maybe the bushings and seals - nothing that moves typically is made of anything but metal :)

hey! don't take it personal - i was just amazed to see that after a few days nobody that had a working knowledge of a motor chimed in, on this post!

but ya, almost nothing inside a modern motor is made of plastic - except maybe the bushings and seals - nothing that moves typically is made of anything but metal :)

hehe yeah sorry, it just seemed you were coming down on the less knowledgable of us, as it were. :wink: Anywho, thanks for the help. :)

Ya i would believe it. Alot of GM cars have plastic pullys, usually on the Steering pump (servo). Toyota is in partnership wtih GM anyhow. GM also puts plastic Intake Manifolds on their S10s and they are going to put a Plastic Exhaust Manifold on fords i think. But ya they do that to save money and they do not have the intention that there are some tuners out there that will be modifying these vehicles because it is illegal. Not that im for that but any mod to a vehicle is illegal. BLAH to that. But just be careful when modifying cuz to change one thing you have to change another. GL!

that was my qoute from toyotanation contact greenbox he'll tell you. he didn't put the whole qoute i was told it was designed for safety so that it will break away if anything were to happen

Ya i would believe it. Alot of GM cars have plastic pullys, usually on the Steering pump (servo). Toyota is in partnership wtih GM anyhow. GM also puts plastic Intake Manifolds on their S10s and they are going to put a Plastic Exhaust Manifold on fords i think. But ya they do that to save money and they do not have the intention that there are some tuners out there that will be modifying these vehicles because it is illegal. Not that im for that but any mod to a vehicle is illegal. BLAH to that. But just be careful when modifying cuz to change one thing you have to change another. GL!

A plastic exhaust manifold?!! How in the world is plastic going to be able to withstand the tempatures of the exhaust gasses. The manifold would start to melt within a couple of miles. Must be some space age ____, and that would definitely would not be cost effective!

Sam

I'm pretty sure he meant plastic intake manifolds, which aren't a bad idea considering they retain less heat than a metal one.

he intake manifold is platic, and for the pulley it is not. however the pulley is a break away design that will need to be changed if using a supercharger it is a breakaway for saftey features incase it freezes so the rest of your motor isnt ____ed...

brent

No i meant the Exhaust! There are some plastics that can take extremely high temps! It just goes to show how much crack ford is smoking. Plastic is definatly cheaper than metal and easier to produce. My ulimate opinion is that plastic has no place in a car at all!

well i work for toyota and at the training of the scions yes the crank pulley is made of plastic it is designed to break away if the compressor or alternator were to seize up.

No i meant the Exhaust! There are some plastics that can take extremely high temps! It just goes to show how much crack ford is smoking. Plastic is definatly cheaper than metal and easier to produce. My ulimate opinion is that plastic has no place in a car at all!

That will give FORD another reason to be unreliable. Plastic is cheaper but injection molding cost a lot more than stamped steel. The process and tooling on injeciton molding takes more than just a die and a punch.

As for a car with all steel....sounds like a 64 1/2 - 67 Mustang.

I don't buy the "Safety" reasoning, I have been driving for about 35 years and have owned about 60 different cars/trucks. I have seized A/C compressors, It won't hurt you or your engine, just toast the drive belt. I have had alternators go out but have NEVER seen one seize!!

So why do we see plastic parts on our cars?? $$, it's all about $$$. I truely dispise that cheesy plastic dipstick!!! You all know your dipstick is plastic, right? Sure, you've already checked your oil, right??

"Plastics" are seeing more use in engine moving parts applications, they are not plastics as you know them they are really "composite" construction and can be made VERY strong. The main reason for their use is for weight reduction, the less a vehicle weighs the better mileage and performance it can attain. I have seen prototypes of composite connecting rods for race engines, very strong, very light. Light weight reciprocating/rotating parts are a HUGE benifit for performance engines. There have also been a composite engine block developed. All this neat technology will reach the mass produced cars in the future....
ken

Hmmm... it's a bad picture, but you can see some rust (on metal) on the crank pulley of the Echo 1NZ-FE in this pic:
http://sr20.hybrids.jp/van/broken_1nzfe/pages/DSCN0798.htm
Now whether the Scion 1NZ-FE is exactly the same... I am still trying to find out all differences.

greenbox was right. the toyota tech's told us they were designed to be breakaway if anything gets seized up. just like anything else, they made it as a "just in case". zero clearance valves on a car w/ a timing belt not chain is another example. chances of throwing your timing belt on a toyota? slim, but just in case.

and trd is not making a turbo kit. i don't know what misinformed tech told someone that but TRD doesn't do turbos anymore. the supercharger is finished they just have to get all the emissions test results right and find someone to build it before it can be distributed. and i got this info from the trd rep. who came by my store.

Ive also encountered a plastic piston in a brake caliper! Can you believe that!?! I think it was on some nissan. There was a recall on these things because they kept crakin due to extreme heat! Guess the designers didnt kno that there would be initial D freaks on the road heating the brakes to the point of no return. Im down for plastic in certain places of the car like meybe the body and the dash, i mean Saftly vs. repairability right? But on ____ like a caliper piston sheesh.

You would be surprised what they can make out of plastic these days...my father makes stuff out of plastic...a plastic guru so to speak.

they have plastic stronger, lighter and more durable than many metals...some plastics are tolerant for high heat, others for stress, others for damage resisitance, or solar resistance.

There is an entire engine made out of plastic that was made in the late 90's by a german company. The pistons, rings and cylinder sleeves and valves were steel, as were the bearings; but the case, the crank, the rods, the manifolds, the heads....ALL PLASTIC...It was only a concept motor and may never hit the production line....but who knows, some day...plastic is cheaper than steel.

this engine weighed about half that of a comparible motor made of steel and produced slightly better HP and torque. Who know how long it would last.

A pulley made of plastic is not fiction, but FACT....the use of plastic for drivetrains will only continue to grow and grow.

cant remember what car or manufacture it was but did they make a plastic raditatorwas it chevy i dunno any body know

chad

anyone here ever worked on a motor before?

there is NO WAY the crank pulley is made of plastic!

there is way to much stress and strain and even if you could get stong enough plastic, it would give, and having a crank pulley that had a streching effect would serriously screw up the timing of your motor.

it's not made of plastic, there are no cars that have a plastic crank pulley (maybe a model car, but no street cars, i'm sure)

and do you think that a chunk of steel stamped out would be MORE expensice than a injection molded peice of plastic? of course not!

I would have said exactly the same thing about intake manifolds until I bought my Scion...

I had a plastic radiaator on one of my old Honda. Prelude I got about 1978 or 79. You can't acid wash them to get rid of the gunk ... just get a new one. My GMC Jimmy came with one with a plastic sides and a metal core. The side split one day and had to get an gnu all metal one.