generalu
Probationary Member
- 28
- 1
- Jan 19, 2005
-
SoCal,
California
Wanted to get some feedback to see if belt tension is off and causing some problems. I've replaced my belts for the harmonic dampener and I've noticed a couple things.
First, my voltage fluctuates up and down after she's warmed up. With throttle, she reads between 12.5-14. But at idle, lights on, brakes pressed, it drops down to 11.8v. I've installed a new higher amp alternator, and the belt seems to be pretty snug (too snug?). I'm hoping there's nothing wrong with the diodes.
Second, before I changed out my belts, I noticed when my AC was running, the engine's RPM would drop down a lot faster during shifts. It made sense to me that the crank was under more pressure/stress when the AC was running, so the RPM's would drop more quickly. But now, after belts are replaced and pretty snug (too snug?), even without the AC running, the RPM's drop pretty rapidly. I haven't been able to try the AC cause it's not working (I believe I blew a fuse/relay) to see if it gets any worse.
Hoping someone can provide some feedback to my suspicions since these two problems seem interrelated. Are my belts too tight? Crank pulley no good? (If so, why would these problems happen?) Is there a good way to test for belt tension without buying a tension measurer?
When I get a chance, I'm going to loosen the belts a little to see what happens, but some insight would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
First, my voltage fluctuates up and down after she's warmed up. With throttle, she reads between 12.5-14. But at idle, lights on, brakes pressed, it drops down to 11.8v. I've installed a new higher amp alternator, and the belt seems to be pretty snug (too snug?). I'm hoping there's nothing wrong with the diodes.
Second, before I changed out my belts, I noticed when my AC was running, the engine's RPM would drop down a lot faster during shifts. It made sense to me that the crank was under more pressure/stress when the AC was running, so the RPM's would drop more quickly. But now, after belts are replaced and pretty snug (too snug?), even without the AC running, the RPM's drop pretty rapidly. I haven't been able to try the AC cause it's not working (I believe I blew a fuse/relay) to see if it gets any worse.
Hoping someone can provide some feedback to my suspicions since these two problems seem interrelated. Are my belts too tight? Crank pulley no good? (If so, why would these problems happen?) Is there a good way to test for belt tension without buying a tension measurer?
When I get a chance, I'm going to loosen the belts a little to see what happens, but some insight would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
