Not that I've ever seen. What does the back of the pulley look like? Was it possibly modified?

 

As far as I know it's stock, but I've only seen one so I'll post a picture once I get home from work.

 

did it look.... broken as fuck?

 

Yeh, the bearing in the pulley goes bad and it gets play in it, then it heats up, then its melts stuffs. I have a trashed cover in my garage from mine going bad.

 

The pulley bearing itself doesn't seem broke as fuck to me. It spins freely and without play (in-out or side to side). Just a tiny bit of bearing noise from rollers, but it's not loud. Could it have been that maybe the pulley lock bolt (the one that goes through the bearing center) been loose and allow the pulley to move backwards toward the timing belt cover? It seems to me plausible, but then I think that the long tension adjust bolt might hold the pulley away from the cover even if the pulley bolt wasn't tight.

By the way, I broke that long tensioner bolt...I need to find another bolt, my first attempt failed.
AC Pulley - Ej22e Phase 1 - Imgur

Sorry no higher quality photos, the good camera is on vacation in Florida.

 

it sits pretty close to the covers..i'm guessing that the bearings are shot and created a ton of excess heat..which melted the cover.

 

Okay thanks guys!

Does anybody know if I can get just the bearing and have it pressed in?

 

Let me see if I can dig up photos of when that pulley went on my wagon. It exploded, burned/tore a hole in the cover, then sent bearings all over the engine bay, the block, and the radiator haha.

It's so close to the cover that any uneven-ness such as that caused by failure, will make it rub.