EDITOR’S NOTE: The applications described below are for Europe only.
Schaeffler is now offering a repair solution with pulley decoupler for the auxiliary drive. The INA repair solution will initially be offered for BMW vehicles with 1.5-liter and 3-cylinder gasoline engines (like the BMW 3 Series) and also should be available for certain vehicles from Opel and Volvo by the end of the year.
For additional vibration damping in the auxiliary drive, Schaeffler’s pulley decoupler, which has been in OE mass production since 2013, is now available for the first time as a component of its INA fead kits, says the company. “With this, we are the first company on the market to offer garages a suitable repair solution,” said Christian Kos, head of engine and chassis, Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket. “The launch of the pulley decoupler represents a logical further development in our product portfolio for servicing the ever-more complex auxiliary drive.”
The auxiliary drive long ago developed from a simple belt drive into a complex system. Schaeffler says the increasing demands for comfort – like air conditioning, power-assisted steering or start-stop systems – and vehicle trends like hybridization or downsizing have led to a much higher load on all components of the auxiliary drive. For instance, fewer cylinders, when running at low engine speeds with smaller displacement, cause much higher rotational irregularities and vibrations. The pulley decoupler, with arc springs and integrated torsion vibration damper, not only reduces vibrations and rotational irregularities in the auxiliary drive, it also helps to dramatically reduce fuel consumption by up to two percent and CO2 emissions due to lower frictional losses.
The INA fead kit portfolio, with more than 200 different repair solutions, has all the components necessary for professional servicing of the complete auxiliary drive system. Every kit contains poly V-belts, guide and tensioner pulleys, along with all accessory parts required for installation. Depending on vehicle type and use, the kit also can contain an overrunning alternator pulley (OAP), a torsion vibration damper (TVD), a pulley decoupler or a water pump.
