Altenator pulley info
 

Litens OAD
Folks,

The overruning clutch pulley on the Caliber is refered to as a Litens OAD. OAD stands for Overrunning Alternator Decoupler. It is a wearable item and will need replacing on every vehicle that it is on. The part is available in the aftermarket and can be replaced without replacing the entire alternator. For more info you can go to www.decouplerpulley.com. One thing to remember is to never replace with solid pulley. THe belt tensioner will go nuts and there will be major issues.

Javert.

ps. This Litens OAD has been on the Dodge Caravan (2001-2005) for many years. Mechanics are just now learning about the OAD and that it CAN be replaced by itself to $ave the vehicle owner money.

The obvious question: can this be replaced without removing the Alt?

2007 Caliber, 86kMiles: Alt Pulley replacement. Answering my own question. The Alternator must be unbolted but does not have to be removed. Read on...
One giant pain in the tail. AlldataDIY gave it a 1.4 hour book time. Good luck getting close to that. My opinion is the engineers that thought it was a nice design to tuck the Alternator in so tight should be executed (in a non-violent way of course). I never did get the Alternator off the car. The field wire connector was incredibly stubborn. And much as I tried the Alternator was to big to get past the AC compressor. Even after removing the 2 bolts that mount the AC Condenser/filter tank I still could not move the compressor enough to get the Alt out. I considered removing the flange that mounts the AC Compressor but decided to skip all that and simply angle the Alt 45degrees clockwise (standing behind car) and use a half inch drive air impact wrench with a 17mm hex wrench to remove the old pulley and install the new. Also getting the dust cover of the face of the pulley was also a pain. Ended up driving a flat screwdriver in the center of it and prying it out. Old dust cover was toast. My new pulley did not have a cover in the box. Ether pilfered or not included. I mad a replacement out of the plastic side of an oil bottle using scissors. It fit nicely and I used a few dabs of RTV around the edges to make sure it stayed put. It actually looked good, not that it can be seen given the tight clearance of the Alternator when installed.
RECOMMEND: If all you are going to do is replace the pulley then I would not bother with unbolting the AC Compressor. Just angle the Alt down and use the impact wrench. Also the wires can be left in-place saving a bit of time. Special tools: 17mm hex wrench on a 1/2” drive socket and an air impact wrench.
The manufacturer should have placed a 2inch hole in the frame with a plastic plug to make this s 30min job.
Lastly the Symptoms: rattle noise that got worse over a couple of weeks finally sounding like a bad rod bearing. Very noisy following engine RPM. Removing tension on the drive belt and the noise stopped. Lastly, not my car. Is the daughter in laws. I came to this forum and found this posting about these new pulleys (I always called this a “sprag clutch” ). I guess they needed a new name for the patent rights. Lots of good info on the OEM website. Again as this is a “wear” item like break-pads the design of the vehicle is sorely lacking. I'd like some feedback from others as to when they had to replace the pulley and what it cost them. Curious.

Just curious but cant you just remove front/rear mounts and tilt engine backward enough to pull out top(leaving the right and left so engine/tranny is attached at both ends)? maybe even just remove the fans so enough room to pull out top.Was looking at because soon needing to replace.Wondering if it would be easier then a/c removal.

well it takes about 3hrs to r&r the alternator and it comes out thru the bottom with the a/c compressor unbolted and lines still connected to compressor

Just did this yesterday to my son in law's 07 Caliber, PITA but only took about 3 hours. I went ahead and replaced the entire Alternator and all the idler pulleys seeings how we were right there anyway, It just made sense. Stupid design on Chryslers part as usual, I actually own 3 Dodge vehicles and not by choice. It also had around 82,000 miles on it.

It's not a Dodge thing, many auto makers use these now.

92K. Replaced this. Seems to have fixed so many sounds I though was normal. I have more power it seems too. The car seems to be brand new. I'll confirm you only have to unbolt the AC and alternator. Tilt the alternator and use your impact wrench.

Our 09 lasted a little over 60k before it died not long ago. Sounded like a diesel with a bad timing chain. Got in changed in under 2 hours. Just not sure why they buried the darn thing in the middle instead of on the top where belongs.

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