Stretching belts?
Printed From: West Coast Fieros
Category: Technical Topics Forum
Forum Name: Technical Questions and Discussions
Forum Description: Got a technical question about your fiero? ask it here.
URL: http://www.westcoastfieros.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1938
Printed Date: 18 January 2025 at 9:13pm
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Topic: Stretching belts?
Posted By: Romeo
Subject: Stretching belts?
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 10:46am
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Ok, I know it sounds weird, or like something else has gone wrong, but I have checked literally EVERYTHING, and my belt has gotten looser, which is bad, because my alternator is as far as it can go in the bracket, so I can't tighten it further. It is so loose there's about 2-3" worth of movement I can do by hand, it doesn't stop after starting up and it squeels at absolutely any RPM. Also, there's little pieces of rubber (About the same size as dust mites) everywhere, so it's obviously wearing out somewhere. So, I know I'm going to have to get a new belt, but before I do, does anyone have any idea what could've caused this? ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Replies:
Posted By: Dawg
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 11:39am
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One of your pulleys could be out of round somehow or wobbling "up and down" (eccentric). A bent shaft? On my last truck, the clutch on my water pump was slightly bent from an accident. You couldn't see it with the naked eye and the seller said nothing. It ate a belt every 8 months or so till I figured it out. DG ------------- You dream it up....I'll make it |
Posted By: Dawg
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 11:46am
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I just reread your post and the little bits make me think the belt is just being over worked. Something there doesn't want to turn. Does everything spin easily? Do you have a bad battery or phantom loads that make your alternator work hard all the time? Could be a combination of my first post and this one. DG ------------- You dream it up....I'll make it |
Posted By: Patrick
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 12:13pm
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I still haven't placed my order yet if you're interested - http://www.westcoastfieros.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1790&PN=1 - Here .
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Posted By: Dr.Fiero
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 2:18pm
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If the pulleys are fubared, it'll eat belts too. See if the tips of the ribs are pointy, or rounded off and smooth (you might have to look at another for comparison). |
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 6:53pm
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Yep yep, I'll do an autopsy on the belt tomorrow and check everything else for resistance/electrical loads and that should further narrow things down. But does that explain why the belt is bigger? ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Capt Fiero
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 6:56pm
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Belts do stretch with age, also as a new belt wears into the grooves on the pulley it can seem like it has stretched even when it is not. On Lisa's V6 auto, it had a belt squeal, I removed the belt took an SOS pad and scrubbed all the pulleys, put the belt back on and it was perfect. It was slipping so bad in fact that the alternator would quit charging. ------------- Capt Fiero 88 Fiero GT 5spd V6 Eight Fifty Seven GT V8 5spd. |
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 8:04pm
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Alright, will try that tomorrow as well. ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Dawg
Date Posted: 05 July 2010 at 10:56pm
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If a pulley is wobbling it will over tighten for a microsecond as it turns and jack hammer the belt to death. DG
------------- You dream it up....I'll make it |
Romeo wrote:Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 06 July 2010 at 8:03pm
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So the pulleys all turn well and straight (By eye, I don't have measuring tools for it) however I did notice that the pulleys don't appear to be lined up with one another (So the belt would turn cockeyed). Anyways, have a new belt on, but any ideas how one could fix that? ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Dr.Fiero
Date Posted: 06 July 2010 at 8:21pm
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Do the crank and water pump pulleys look in line, but the alt is kicked over to one side or the other? If so - someone probably put the wrong, or wrong number of spacers behind the pulley/fan at some point. |
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 06 July 2010 at 8:34pm
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No actually, that's the weird thing: The crank looks further "outside" than the water pump (As in center of the WP pulley looks like it lines up in between the v-belt and serpentine sections of the crank). Can't really tell if the alternator is out or not (In line with the crank, out of line with the water pump). ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Dawg
Date Posted: 06 July 2010 at 8:58pm
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Ack! Belts don't like that. Especially these flat belts. Sounds like something is seriously f'ed up. Maybe you've got the wrong harmonic balancer? Hmmmmmm.......???? DG ------------- You dream it up....I'll make it |
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 06 July 2010 at 11:18pm
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I suppose it is always a possibility. Truth be told, I'm not sure how things are supposed to look in the belt department. Maybe at the meet someone could sneak a glance and say "Everything's peachy" or "Well Tristan, she was a good car..."
------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Patrick
Date Posted: 06 July 2010 at 11:29pm
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Might be a couple of 2.8's at the meeting you can have a look at.
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Posted By: Dawg
Date Posted: 06 July 2010 at 11:59pm
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Bring a yard stick or some other straight edge and we'll compare pulleys. DG ------------- You dream it up....I'll make it |
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 07 July 2010 at 1:29pm
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Nah Patty, "no one bothers with the 2.8s. You can save so much time and money just going to a V8". That's what some crazy old man keeps telling me, anyways. And will do, thanks for the idea Damien. ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |