Q: Is it normal for the crankshaft pulley to be stuck if the car is off. The serpentine belt is removed.
Recently my serpentine belt slipped off while driving. The car is parked and it is cold. I have removed the belt and inspected all of pulleys. I noticed that the pulley for the water pump seems to be a little bit rough, which I will replace. In addition, the camshaft pulley does not move. Would this be normal if the car is off? Or does this indicate another issue with the camshaft?
My car has 140000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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The only pulleys you should be able to turn by hand when the serpentine belt is not in place are: the water pump, alternator, and power steering pump pulleys. The air conditioning compressor has a clutch on it that should spin freely as well but it will not be rotating the internals of the compressor.
The compressor internals are only spinning when you turn the A/C on. The A/C clutch is electro-magnetic. When it’s energized by turning the A/C on, it will "connect" to the compressor internals and spin them to give you cold air.
The camshaft and crankshaft pulleys are directly attached to the engine (camshaft and crankshaft) and will only rotate if the engine is running or manually rotating the engine by placing a socket and breaker bar to the crankshaft pulley bolt. That you cannot rotate either cam or crankshaft pulleys by hand is completely normal. If you were able to rotate them bare handed, THEN you would have a problem.
If you’d like to have your water pump pulley replaced, consider YourMechanic, as a certified technician can come to your home or office to service the car. They can also ensure your other pulleys are working as intended as well. Good luck
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