alternator belt issues

[tyb323]

Hello folks, just got back from a lovely little odyssey. For the second time this year, my alternator belt broke. The first time this happened, I believe the belt was old, and it lost some teeth. It popped off the track and the car had a mild overheat - no damage. I had a local shop tension the belts ( I didn't think I did it properly). Past few weeks its been screeching a bit the first couple hundred feet and then it goes away. Tonight though, it screeched, and then faded away like normal, then my volts dropped, battery light kicked on, and i pulled over well before the otterstat even kicked in. Belt was entirely gone, but i saw black rubber residue caked on the water pump pully, maybe even on the alternator belt, it was too dark to see. When the car did screech, my voltage would move around a little bit. Any ideas on why it burned up? Was it installed too loose/tight? The water pump seems to be spinning freely...

[Bitsyncmaster]

bearing probably going bad on the water pump or alternator. Just try to spin those by hand before you put a new belt on.

[uhhair]

bearing probably going bad on the water pump or alternator. Just try to spin those by hand before you put a new belt on.

+1

The bearings inside of the pulley should spin pretty freely without the belt on. If the bearings are old/creaky/difficult to turn by hand (as ours were when we bought our car) it can put a lot more stress than needed on the belts, causing them to strain harder to turn the pulley, and give out as well. Definitely check those out. However, if it was making a squeaking noise when the car started up (as I'm sure we've all heard on many cars walking through a parking lot), the belt may not have been properly tightened, which also can contribute to the problem.

However, glad to hear you got the car off the road at the first instance of trouble, definitely the smart decision and it obviously saves you a lot more hassle.

[tyb323]

Update: pulleys spin freely. I guess was this a matter of my shop putting on my belt too loose? Btw I smelled burning rubber last night, now I can see why. This belt flung tiny pieces of rubber all over the back of my engine, it melted onto the intake, exhaust etc. this only happened at the water pump, not the alternator

[uhhair]

Update: pulleys spin freely. I guess was this a matter of my shop putting on my belt too loose? Btw I smelled burning rubber last night, now I can see why. This belt flung tiny pieces of rubber all over the back of my engine, it melted onto the intake, exhaust etc. this only happened at the water pump, not the alternator

Just wondering how a belt would decide to melt like that? Could have been a faulty product, or the belt slipping off and touching up against the engine for an extended period of time?

The entire belt is gone now I assume, so you can't inspect it?

[tyb323]

Yeah I think it's on the road 40 miles from me. I checked before I drove out and the belt wasn't making engine contact

[David T]

Only a few causes for a belt to shred:
Defective belt
Installed improperly
WAY too tight
Bad bearings on the water pump and/or the alternator
A pulley out-of-line
A bent pulley
David Teitelbaum






Yeah I think it's on the road 40 miles from me. I checked before I drove out and the belt wasn't making engine contact

[tyb323]

Here is a photo of the aftermath
10763

[stevedmc]

If your belt is too tight it can actually smoke. I've seen this first hand. Just walk into O'Reilly Auto Parts with whats left of your old belt and get them to match one up for you. I don't remember the exact part number. No need to pay a mechanic to install a belt. Its pretty easy.

[82DMC12]

If your belt is too tight it can actually smoke. I've seen this first hand. Just walk into O'Reilly Auto Parts with whats left of your old belt and get them to match one up for you. I don't remember the exact part number. No need to pay a mechanic to install a belt. Its pretty easy.

Actually since you aren't sure the correct belt was on in the first place you might want to get the right one from a vendor like dmcmw. Don't need a parts store giving you another belt that is too long to tighten or too tight to work in the first place. Otherwise yeah, belts are belts and you don't need anything special.

Andy

[stevedmc]

Actually since you aren't sure the correct belt was on in the first place you might want to get the right one from a vendor like dmcmw. Don't need a parts store giving you another belt that is too long to tighten or too tight to work in the first place. Otherwise yeah, belts are belts and you don't need anything special.

Andy

Good luck with that. I've found that different alternators can require different size belts to properly tension. My 140A alternator from Hervey requires a different size belt (needs to be longer length) than my 110A Eagle Premier alternator (shorter length).

[Chris 16409]

Good luck with that. I've found that different alternators can require different size belts to properly tension. My 140A alternator from Hervey requires a different size belt (needs to be longer length) than my 110A Eagle Premier alternator (shorter length).

I was just going to ask about this. Why do Hevrvey's alternators require a longer belt? The standard ones won't fit?

[stevedmc]

I was just going to ask about this. Why do Hevrvey's alternators require a longer belt? The standard ones won't fit?

Different size pulley.

[Ashyukun]

I was just going to ask about this. Why do Hevrvey's alternators require a longer belt? The standard ones won't fit?

Actually, I'm pretty sure that Hervey's D140 needs a shorter belt- it uses a smaller pulley so it spins at a higher rpm...

[jackb]

I went through SEVERAL belts on my D last year, it really shook my confidence in the car because it felt like every time I took it out I'd wind up on the side of the road. In the end, it was the wrong sized alternator pulley. Since that's been taken care of I've had nothing but trouble-free miles put on the car. I never would have though that was the issue- I suspected it might have been slightly bent, and after 3 belts I was sure it was not improper tension.

[stevedmc]

Actually, I'm pretty sure that Hervey's D140 needs a shorter belt- it uses a smaller pulley so it spins at a higher rpm...

Yeah. What he said. My original words were wrong about which belt is shorter/longer. What I do know is I am 100% happier about my alternator after replacing my Hervey 140A unit with a 110A unit from AutoZone.

[Ashyukun]

Yeah. What he said. My original words were wrong about which belt is shorter/longer. What I do know is I am 100% happier about my alternator after replacing my Hervey 140A unit with a 110A unit from AutoZone.

I've considered ditching mine on numerous occasions- primarily because at idle (even with mine set a bit high, since 16655 is carbed and I don't have a kickdown solenoid to compensate for when the A/C kicks in and drags it down) it simply does NOT put out enough juice? It's fine at normal driving speeds, but I can sit idling with the headlights on and then give it some gas and watch the headlights brighten and dim along with the RPM changes. I also doubt I really need the 140A even with the sub I have with having update lower-draw fans...

[Farrar]

I've considered ditching mine on numerous occasions- primarily because at idle (even with mine set a bit high, since 16655 is carbed and I don't have a kickdown solenoid to compensate for when the A/C kicks in and drags it down) it simply does NOT put out enough juice? It's fine at normal driving speeds, but I can sit idling with the headlights on and then give it some gas and watch the headlights brighten and dim along with the RPM changes. I also doubt I really need the 140A even with the sub I have with having update lower-draw fans...

Hervey told me essentially what you said. I asked about the 140, and he said only if I planned on using a lot of accessories at speed would I need it, and that if my car idled a lot I'd be better off with a lower-amp output. I took his advice.