A/C Belt broke AC was oFF

[96TalonAWD]

Like title says. i turn my car on and strong belt noise can be heard also burnt belt smell, turn on the ac no cold air,look in the engine the belt is all worn out about to brake then i drive with no air and the belt just broke. But how can the belt borke with the compressor is not in use???


If i replace the belt prolly break again somebody been thru this?

 

[Defiant]

The belt's spinning with the crank. Be glad it didn't find other expensive and complicated stuff to break on its way out.
Check your harmonic balancer.

 

[96TalonAWD]

I heard even when the ac is not in use it robs power is that true? Also how do u check the harmonic balancer that sounds like a lot of job.

 

[TalonRacer18]

the belt is still turning, just the ac compressor doesnt run until you turn the ac on. I guess if the engine is turning the belt and turning the ac compressor, then yes it can be robbing power, but not that much really.

 

[PogiTSI]

just check the pully for play. My galant had that problem, and It thru belts all over the place. It would move in and out, just get under the car. and push and pull on it, see if it moves.


Rant: I answer MAD Questions. And no one answers mine, I bump my own Thread. and a mod gets all pissy.

 

[GTM]

Originally posted by 96TalonAWD
Like title says. i turn my car on and strong belt noise can be heard also burnt belt smell, turn on the ac no cold air,look in the engine the belt is all worn out about to brake then i drive with no air and the belt just broke. But how can the belt borke with the compressor is not in use???


If i replace the belt prolly break again somebody been thru this?

Besides checking the crank pulley you should also check the idler/adjuster pulley and the compressor clutch pulley to make sure they turn freely or you can break the new belt plus the part which caused it to break in the first place. You should also rotate the magnetic disk which is bolted directly to the A/C compressor crank. If the compressor is frozen don't wast your money on a belt until you are ready to get a replacement compressor. Usually when those bearings or compressor go out you have some advance warning from the bearings.

The harmonic balancer is another story for it has a rubber center that will dampen noise, if it is the pulley is not available you can use a 1/4" pipe tap to make threads in a triangular position (3 holes equaly spaced) and put bolts in them. This will allow the car to be driven until you can get replacement parts. The reason for the pipe tap is that has a tapered thread whereas a conventional tap is straight except for the starting threads. I've only had to do this a few times but it will work if you are out in the middle of the boonies and a tow job costs as much as the car.

Cheers,
GTM



Cheers,
GTM

 

[Amodeo]

Absolutely, check you harmonic balancer. Mine failed, broke the AC belt and (lucky me) got caught in the timing belt. I found the balancer problem when I was taking the remains of the AC belt out. The only hint I had was a rattling sound that stated the day before the failure. It sounded like a loose exhaust heat shield so I was waiting for the weekend to get under the car and check it out. Bad move!

Now that I've replaced all my valves, it runs much better.

 

[stjoetalon]

Originally posted by PogiTSI

Rant: I answer MAD Questions. And no one answers mine, I bump my own Thread. and a mod gets all pissy.

I feel your pain man!

 

[96TalonAWD]

Did the illnes pass to any of the other belts or just the AC?
That why you must use timing belt covers!!

 

[Amodeo]

Originally posted by 96TalonAWD
Did the illnes pass to any of the other belts or just the AC?
That why you must use timing belt covers!!

The timing belt cover was in place. The broken AC belt threaded in the space between the cover and the crank timing belt pulley and trashed the cover in the process. (Found a replacement on e-bay for $17, what are odds?)

 

[96TalonAWD]

Right now my car got low voltage i pop the hood and find the alternator belo 100% loose just hanging from the pulleys, first the Ac a week later this, WTF how do i tight the belt like for right now?

 

[Amodeo]

Originally posted by 96TalonAWD
Right now my car got low voltage i pop the hood and find the alternator belo 100% loose just hanging from the pulleys, first the Ac a week later this, WTF how do i tight the belt like for right now?

OK. This really sounds like your harmonic balancer is fried and if you continue to screw around with it, your going to cost yourself serious cash.

The harmonic balancer is the bottom pulley that is connected to the crank shaft. It consists of two concentric metal rings joined together by a rubber mateial in the center between the rings. The inner ring bolts to the crank shaft snout (the gear that drives the timing belt is located behind the harmonic ballancer). The outer ring provides the grooves the AC belt and the alternator belt drive off of. It is that rubber connection that fails allowing the inner and outer ring to move independantly and allows the outer ring to move in and out relative to the engine (causing your alternator and AC belts to jump off the pulley).

To replace the harmonic balancer, you remove the left front tire, remove the plastic splash pannel from inside the wheel well (you can see the harmonic balancer through a round hole in that splash panel, it has a 1/2 inch square ratchet type drive hole which can be used to manually rotate the engine for timming etc.).

Your AC belt and your alternator belt are alrady fried so you should replace them, which is good because your going to have to remove them to change the harmonic balancer anyway. You will need to remove the upper engine mount to get to the belts. (You must support the engine from below before removing the engine mount, use afloor jack and a block of wood under the oil pan). Once the engine mount is removed, loosen the altenator belt, the power steering belt and the AC belt. (The alternator has an ajuster that consists of a screw that pushes against the mounting bracket to get the proper tension, the power steering pump is held in place by three bolts, one in the back and two in the front that can be reached through slots cut into the face of the pulley, the AC belt has an adjuster mounted to the face of the engine block that raises and lowers an idler pulley to adjust the belt tension).

Once you have the belts removed, unbolt the harmonic balancer and replace (stock part is about $150 from Satan, or you could go for an after market solid aluminum crank pulley, but you may need to do other modifications to use it). Be very careful not to rotate the crank in a counter clockwise direction as you do this or you risk screwing up you cam timing).

Reassembly is the reverse of above.

I hope this helps. If you do the work yourself or have someone else do it, be sure that you have the harmonic blancer checked before you drive the car.