Shredding belts.

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MZimmerman

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Hello, Recently upgraded my slant to a 360. All is great except I have now been through three power steering\fan belts within 100 miles. They are literally grinding away some how. The engine and fan have belt dust built up on them. The belt is wearing evenly until it wears enough not to spin everything then sits in one spot till it ejects. No burs on the pullys at least that would catch my finger. PLEASE HELP!!!
 
Check alignment with the other pulleys. It maybe off enough or at an angle to the rest. Good Luck
 
So you have two v belts that are coming apart simultaneously? A serpentine? What part of the belt is wearing?
 
Single V Belt. Sides wearing off making it fall further into the groove and getting loose then sitting still wearing until it breaks.
 
So you have one v belt running around the water pump, power steering pump, alternator, and crankshaft?
 
Start with a yard stick if you are sure its not just rusty or bent pullys. Does it look GOOD when the car is idleing?? How does the power steering work, no noises, not sluggish?? How long had this pump been lying around since it was last used? How hard to spin by hand??
 
Pump looks aligned. Belt around PS Pump, Crank and Water Pump. Then double belts around Alternator, Crank, A/C.
 
Pump spins easy by hand. The engine\pump sat better than 10 years before I bought it and rebuilt it. Did not touch the PS Pump. It spun free from day one.
 
So it's the crank/water pump/power steering belt that is going away?
 
correct. AC Belts are fine. Just the one going around the water pump, Power steering pump and crank.
 
  • What type/brand of V-belt? Top cog types (with the notches on the outside of the belt) tend to be problems. Go to NAPA and get their Premium belts.
  • Do you have the stock crank pulley on the engine? An oversized crank pulley would spin things faster.
  • Is the adjustment on the PS belt at the end of its adjustment range when you put on a new belt? How much belt wiggle is there when you tighten the PS belt? You should be able to wiggle the belt in and out the belt no more than + or - 1/4" when it is properly tensioned.
BTW, the pumps may spin free by hands but that is not a 100% guarantee of them spinning freely at running RPM's. Wiggle the water pump pulley side-to-side and if there is any sideways slop, then the bearing is going. Sitting for that long, pump bearings may be suspect.
 
MZimmerman said:
correct. AC Belts are fine. Just the one going around the water pump, Power steering pump and crank.
Click to expand...
There has to be misalignment or the water pump or p/s pump is dragging or locking up. Are you sure the belt is wide enough? Do you have the belt number handy?
 
I always use a 4 ft long piece of 3/8" rod to check alignment. You bend a radius onto the rod to fit the drive pulley then fit the radius into the pulley and the straight part of the rod slides into the P/S pulley. If you keep the radius up against the drive pulley and slowly lower the straight end onto the P/S pulley you can easily see if there is any misalignment. Use a diameter of rod that fits snugly into the pulley so that it touches both sides of the "V" groove.
 
nm9stheham said:
  • What type/brand of V-belt? Top cog types (with the notches on the outside of the belt) tend to be problems. Go to NAPA and get their Premium belts.
  • Do you have the stock crank pulley on the engine? An oversized crank pulley would spin things faster.
  • Is the adjustment on the PS belt at the end of its adjustment range when you put on a new belt? How much belt wiggle is there when you tighten the PS belt? You should be able to wiggle the belt in and out the belt no more than + or - 1/4" when it is properly tensioned.
BTW, the pumps may spin free by hands but that is not a 100% guarantee of them spinning freely at running RPM's. Wiggle the water pump pulley side-to-side and if there is any sideways slop, then the bearing is going. Sitting for that long, pump bearings may be suspect.
Click to expand...
Agree, pump might not be turning freely once you put pressure on it when you tighten the belt.
 
So... All the pulleys are original to the engine along with the AC Compressor. There have been no miss matches. Water Pump is brand new. I have recently put on a 7 blade fan that is direct drive.
 
Looks like it should be a Dayco# 15445 .44'' top width (7/16") and 45" long.
 
I have an old PS pump off the slant that is the same Saginaw pump. Maybe tonight I'll change them out if I can get the pulleys changed.
 
MZimmerman said:
So... All the pulleys are original to the engine along with the AC Compressor. There have been no miss matches. Water Pump is brand new. I have recently put on a 7 blade fan that is direct drive.
Click to expand...
Direct drive 7 blade fans pull pretty hard. No clutch fan?
 
First, tell us what brand/type of belts you are using. There are good belts and there are junk belts, and this type of problem can easily result from junk belts.

Have you tried running a new belt for 15 minutes, and then re-adjusting the belt tension?
 
Here is something many people overlook. V belt pulleys can wear out. Over time, the belt wears out the angled sides of the pulley, creating a hollowed out spot in the middle of the angled face. This is easy to spot if you put a straightedge against the side of the pulleys face.
photo-2-sheave-groove-guage.jpg


If I understand this situation, the belt stops moving, the water pump and P/S pump stop working, but the crank keeps spinning and wears out the belt in that spot.
This doesn't make sense, because for the belt to stop, something has to be causing sufficient drag to make it slip in the pulley that has the least friction, which will not be the crank unless the pulley is simply worn out. If I have the symptoms right, you need to replace your worn out crank pulley.
 
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