Why you shouldn't buy anything from RVM (long)
 

I ordered a pulley from RVM about two months ago. I just had the thing put on the weekend before last. After paying $60 to have it put on, the car was having trouble starting and I got a CEL for a crankshaft position sensor. I called RVM and they told me that it was a faulty timing ring and they would send me a new one. I got the new one and put it on myself last Thursday. The car ran like absolute crap. It would start to misfire around 2000 rpm’s and hit intermittently everywhere else in the RPM range. The car would misfire (possibly detonate), buck, and shake. (I was very careful to put the new timing ring on in the same exact position as the old one) I figured that the pulley alone could not be causing this problem so I called my local dealer on Friday morning. They said they could fit me in Monday morning. So yesterday (Sunday), I removed the RVM pulley and installed the stock one so that the dealer wouldn’t give me any trouble with the RVM pulley voiding my warranty. Well to my surprise, the car ran fine with the stock pulley in. No problems whatsoever.

Here is the fun part. I called RVM this morning and politely told them that I would like to get my money back for the pulley. The employee asked why and I started to explain how the pulley affected the car’s performance. In the middle of my sentence the guy interrupted me and interjected that there was no way this could happen. He then told me that they don’t issue refunds but they would inspect my pulley and issue me a new one IF mine was found to be defective. I explained that I don’t want to do that and I just want my money back. He stated again that they don’t issue refunds. I explained to him how I had this pulley installed once for $60 and then did it twice myself and that this $75 pulley has realistically cost me $135 (pulley + paid installation) and theoretically cost me $255 (pulley + 1X paid installation + 2X unpaid self –installations) He is unwilling to budge. My only resort is to send this pulley into RVM and hope that they send me a new pulley that works properly. After installing the new one, my hypothetical cost of a $75 pulley will be $305. $75 pulley + 1X paid installation @ $60 + 3X unpaid self-installations @ $60 a piece.

Cliff notes: RVM pulley doesn’t work. They have terrible customer service. Buy definitive or UR.

i know i havent had any problems and i have my pulley on very long.... i also know that ny96max has one and i see him everyday and nothing wrong with his, Qnpark has one on his turbomax and he has no problems... all of ours were installed CORRECTLY and work perfect with great gains,,,, alot of people that have installed their own pullies have either forgot something or installed the pulley worng ...off the top of my head i can think of 10 people with nothing but posotive feedback about RVM...

After 3 installs I'm pretty sure that I'm installing it properly.

Have you been to the forums lately there have been countless problems with this pulley from leaks to bad timing rings to horrible customer service. For their horrible customer service alone i wouldn't buy from them. They are just impossible :mad:

P.S. - Just a footnote I have an RVM pulley sitting in my room which i will never install. So since you know so many people that don't have problems with their pulleys i have one sitting here if they want to buy it for $50 plus shipping. ;)

So in addition to the problem with the Oil seal abrading the Aluminum because of the lack of a steel sleeve there are two problems with the timing ring --

1. Ring is miscut on first batch of pulleys and one of the 'tabs' is 1/8" off.
2. Ring is non Magnetic (on all RVM pullys?) so the crankshaft position sensor does not pick it up properly.

Where all the timing rings made of the same material? How is it some have no problems with the crankshaft position sensor and others get a CEL/hard starting/or even worse like Bluebird?

IMO you guys with the RVM pulley should cut your losses and go with the Definitive or Unorthodox Pulleys and try to get a refund through Pay-Pal or your credit card company. Pay-pal and most credit card companys have a time limit on when you can ask for a refund so I would say the sooner the better, even if you don't have problems yet. My CC company wanted a 'profesional opinion' on why the product was defective (if the complaint was about a new product), perhaps you guys could get a letter from Unorthodox stating that a crankshaft pulley requires a steel sleeve.

Maybe you could buy just a timing ring from Unorthodox (if it fit) to solve the problem with the timing ring but you would still have the problem with the lack of a crankshaft seal. I feel bad for you guys, particularly the ones who paid for profesional installation

Did you compare the old/new timing rings? Did you compare the position of the timing "magnets" (oem vs the 2 from RVM)? Just curious. Not doubting or anything like that. If the magnets were indeed 1/8" off like Anachronism
said, that would REALLY screw up the car's timing maps.

Right. It doesn't make sense to spend money fixing one aspect of a defective product if another aspect of the same defective product could rear its ugly head at any time.

FYI, my RVM UDP does NOT leak oil yet. But I purchased a UR UDP as a backup. If the RVM UDP develops an oil leak, I'll replace it with the UR UDP. If it doesn't, I'll sell the UR UDP when I get rid of my Maxima in approximately 2006.

I wish people would check the damn stickies before trying to praise such a ****ty company:rolleyes:

Good question Jeff. I actually did compare the 2 pulleys and the timing marks were in identical positions. However, the first timing ring wasn't able to be held by a magnet but the second one was. I was also extremely careful to position the 2nd timing ring on the pulley in the exact same position as the first.

Here's a potential theory: The first timing ring's tabs were in the wrong position but since they were not able to have a magnetic charge the crankshaft position sensor was not able to read the tabs. The second rings tabs were able to be read but were in the wrong position causing the car to fire in VERY inappropriate times. I mean, what if this pully was telling the sensor to have my ignition fire when my pistons were on their way back up. This could have been the demise of my car's engine.


Blubyu2K2 - Right on!

Anachronism - thanks for the sympathy.

96Max5spd - Nice :thumbsup:

Good question Jeff. I actually did compare the 2 pulleys and the timing marks were in identical positions. However, the first timing ring wasn't able to be held by a magnet but the second one was. I was also extremely careful to position the 2nd timing ring on the pulley in the exact same position as the first.

Here's a potential theory: The first timing ring's tabs were in the wrong position but since they were not able to have a magnetic charge the crankshaft position sensor was not able to read the tabs. The second rings tabs were able to be read but were in the wrong position causing the car to fire in VERY inappropriate times. I mean, what if this pully was telling the sensor to have my ignition fire when my pistons were on their way back up. This could have been the demise of my car's engine.


Blubyu2K2 - Right on!

Anachronism - thanks for the sympathy.

96Max5spd - Nice :thumbsup:

when you say you compared the two timing rings and they were in the same position, are you talking about two RVM rings, or one RVM ring to the stock pulley?
I had a hard time starting (having to tow my car home twice!!!) I decided to take my pulley off. when I got the RVM pulley off I unscrewed the timing ring and placed it over my stock pulley and the tabs are indeed off. the single tabs line up, but the double tabs are off by 1/8".
I put my stock pulley on and car ran like a champ. i called and emailed RVM. they said to send the ring back and they would send me a new ring and refund my shipping. I got another ring (but no refund for my shipping costs) but it was exactly the same as the old ring. 1/8" off. and by this time, other people have been saying that the steel in the rings may not be magnetically reactive. sure enough a refrigerator magnet cannot tell the difference between this ss ring and a piece of cardboard. so there are two problems with the ring. and in the meantime others are experiencing problems with oil leaks. i haven't gotten a leak since mine was on for only 3 days, but after emailing RVM and threatening to have my CC charge it back he says to send it back for a refund. I hope he actually sticks to his word and refunds my money.

I was talking about comparing the 2 RVM rings.

I never even thought about comparing the RVM's to the stock. :bonk:

money back. good luck. i just wanted new one so that i can try to fix the problem with oil leak but they won't even exchange mine.

like most people said just take this as learning experience and never again will i buy from them

I called my credit card company yesterday and they're going to fight on my side. I'll let you guys know how it turns out in a couple of weeks.

damm i dont want a RVM, does any one have any problems with thier UDR pulley cause im thinking of getting one.

ive installed 2 RVM pullies on 2 different Maximas. First one was when they first came out and after install the Maxima worked fine. (96 Max) then about a month ago i did another RVM on a 00 Max and it has the check engine light/bad starting issues that ive seen alot of people have.

i guess you get what you pay for