Getting the A/C belt on , help I'm desperate!!

[ClipseAPG]

Hey guys, to make a long story short, I'm having immense trouble getting my a/c going. I bought the car without ac. The seller said when he removed the old engine, the ac lines were disconnected and drained of refrigerant. Then, when the new one went in, he connected the lines but didn't bother putting the new belt on and recharging the system. Now I went to autozone and asked for the ac belt for my 95 GSX and I was given a 275-K4 (or was it 270?) along with that I got a can of r134a as well. So next day I'm getting started on getting some cold air and my buddy says we'll put the refrigerant in first. I tell him I don't think so, if the belt is off I dont think the system will suck the new gas in correctly. Anyways though, we end up doing it and the gas ends up busting out of were the nozzle meets the hose (when it was connected by the hose to the low side service port). After that not working out, I decide to put the belt on first, I then take off the ps pump, loosen the alt (which took half a can of PB blaster bloodied knuckles and finally simply just a box wrench) and fit the new ac belt on the crank pulley to my surprise it wouldn't fit over the condenser pulley nevermind it fitting over the condenser AND the tensioner (it was about two inches shy). Then I went back to autozone and the stupid guy there said "nope, that's the right belt" then tried to look up the belt for a 94 and give me that, I say "no, I have a 95" then he tries to sell me the AC belt off a 420a and I tell him "I'm pretty sure I would know whether my car is turbo or not." Then I instead went to my buddy at advanced auto parts and he tells me autozone gave me the belt for my PS pump so I get the belt from advanced auto parts (this one was a 375-K4 or 370-K4 (I know one of the two belts I mentioned had a 5 at the end the other was a 0)) Anyways though, I go home try to fit that on and now this one is too big. Now I think I should mention that the tensioner bracket on my GSX had two screws missing which contributed to my confusion (not the one that holds it at the bottom but the two on top that adjust the tension of the belt) But at full tension, the belt has way too much give (over one inch). So now I call a different advanced auto parts and the lady there tells me that the belt is a dealer only item so off I go to the stealership and I get the belt. Now I put it on tonight and again it seems too big. I think it again has about one or more inches of give . I've had an absolutely crappy time trying to get the ac working and I started working on my ac back when boston, MA was having 100 degree days and now fall's almost in . What I want to know is what the hell to do to get my ac going!?!? Hopefully i'm just making some dumb mistake. If it helps maybe I'm wrong in the way im putting the belt on the pulleys ( although if I am I must be absolutely retarded... haha) anyways tho, the way I think the belt goes is
around the outside of these three pulleys:

Tensioner pulley--------->O

AC condenser pulley-------------------------->O

O <-----Inner part of crank pulley


Thanks for reading guys!

[agarcia892003]

if im not mistaken your ac belt only goes thru the ac core and straight to the crank pulley..and the tensioner pulley..so you are correct..the tensioner pulley has two screws..one on the top and one on the bottom..i believe it's the one on the top you have to loosen to get the belt to go in..

[ClipseAPG]

Originally Posted by agarcia892003

if im not mistaken your ac belt only goes thru the ac core and straight to the crank pulley..and the tensioner pulley..so you are correct..the tensioner pulley has two screws..one on the top and one on the bottom..i believe it's the one on the top you have to loosen to get the belt to go in..

I have no problem getting the belt on the problem is that it seems much too lose when it's on around all three pulleys. As I said, the top screws on the tensioner bracket were missing so I had no problem getting the belt on (although I have now put new screws in.) But, even if the tensioner was all the way up (or down, whichever way you wanna think about it) and was at what would be called max tension, I would have no problem fitting the belt I got from the dealership over it so that's why I think maybe it's the wrong belt or something is wrong with the location of the pulleys. (And thanks for confirming that I'm not absolutely retarded and did have the belt on correctly)

[luv2rallye]

The tensioner has 3 bolts: one on the top parallel to the engine for tensioning, 2 others below that perpendicular to the engine that both lock it in place (one tensioner rotates on, the other in the adjustment slot). If your system was opened it will have to be purged using a vacuum pump to remove air and moisture if you want it to work very well: How to Recharge the Air Conditioner in a Car - wikiHow

[ClipseAPG]

Originally Posted by luv2rallye

The tensioner has 3 bolts: one on the top parallel to the engine for tensioning, 2 others below that perpendicular to the engine that both lock it in place (one tensioner rotates on, the other in the adjustment slot). If your system was opened it will have to be purged using a vacuum pump to remove air and moisture if you want it to work very well: How to Recharge the Air Conditioner in a Car - wikiHow

I replaced all of those bolts and I plan on putting my system through vacuum but only once I know whether or not I can get it working at all. If there is a very expensive repair needed to get it working I may just need to go without it . I've been thinking that maybe I got the wrong belt but how could 2 different places (advanced autoparts and the dealership) give me the same size belt for my ac and both be wrong (especially the dealership? ). Does anyone have the right size the A/C belt that runs from the condenser, to crank pulley to tensioner? My next idea would be that maybe the tensioner was bolted on incorrectly but it swivels fine and looks like it's in the right place so that leaves me at O ideas again ...

[Wildman95GS-T]

The last time i replaced my belts, i ordered them from Rockville, MD Mitsubishi. These are the belts they sent me for my 95gst. They fit and have no problems.
(1) Alternator: Dayco MD310616 (20-8992)
(2) PSP: Mitsuboshi: 4PK695 (R34-7)
(3) A/C: Dayco SSA921F009GC (20-5533)

My CAP'S program has these P/N
(1) Alternator: MD186125 *
(2) PSP: MD189130
(3) A/C: MR148271

Checked at mitsupartsdirect.com Rockville, MD
(1) Alternator: * Superseded MD310616 $6.06
(2) PSP: MD189130 $10.28
(3) A/C: MR148271 $13.10

Hope this helps

[ClipseAPG]

Thanks Wildman i'll call up mitsu tomorrow (because of labor day they're closed today ) and ask then what the size of belt MR148271 is. While I was scanning through some forums though, I did find that someone said they had trouble finding the right size belt for their 1g due to and aftermarket crank pulley. It just so happens that I have an aftermarket crank pulley (which I would rather not have, the seller put it in though ) so maybe that's my problem... anyone have any input on whether this could be the cause of my conundrum? Also, if anyone has the specs of the OEM crank pulley, I could compare mine to the stock one and maybe get some answers.

Thanks guys!

[Wildman95GS-T]

Did a little search on e-bay and most suppliers of underdrive c/s pulleys give you the size with the instalation instructions, this supplier had belt sizes listed, eBay Motors: 95 96 97 98 99 Eclipse GSX GST Turbo Underdrive Pulley (item 190248457782 end time Sep-07-08 10:41:40 PDT)

[ClipseAPG]

Thanks man, that pulley looks really similar to the one i have if it's the same size i'll just get the belt that pulley requires. However, I am a little confused because the seller says that the "Alternator & Water Pump: use 38 7/8" and that the "Air Conditioning: 37 1/8" but shouldn't the a/c belt be longer than the alt belt or am I wrong?

[Wildman95GS-T]

The alternator/waterpump belt is longer, it has to go around w/p, c/s and alternator, the a/c belt when it goes around the tensioner pulley is much lower than the w/p. I hope you get this all worked out

[ClipseAPG]

Haha ok that makes sense wildman, I just couldn't see that from looking down at both sets of pulleys ... anyways tho, I measured the distance around the crank pulley, tensioner, and a/c with a string (with the tensioner up halfway to let me get the new belt I get on) and I'm gonna go to advanced auto or autozone to get a new belt that size, hopefully that will solve my problem

[Defiant]

[ClipseAPG]

Thanks Defiant, that diagram is much better than my small and "O's"