alternator belt shredding [Merged 6-8] shedding falling off squeal noise thrown

[marksae]

Alright.. i've gone through some hell w/ my alternator belt on my 1g. Ever since I removed my AC belt, my alternator belt has flown off 3 times, and I've shredded 2 of them. If i leave it too loose, it flies off. If I tighten it too much, the belt shreds. I'll check my pulleys to make sure they're all lined up and aren't dinged up. Will overtightening this belt cause it to shred?

As this amalgamation of threads shows, the usual causes of alternator belt troubles are:
1. Failed harmonic balancer.
2. Bent pulleys.
3. Pulleys put on backward.

 

[GotTurbo11]

There is no way your alternator belt broke, if you have been driving it around without it. Do you realise that the car will over heat? Do you realise that the car will DIE? It needs that belt to keep a current going through the car. You said it broke and you lost power steering, that my friend would mean the power steering belt broke. Which is different than the alternator belt.

Now, lets just say it IS the alternator belt. It is not "snapping" on you if the tensioner is comming out of its little groove. The belt is simply falling off. This is probably because you are not tensioning the belt correctly to begin with. Put pressure on the belt by pushing down the alternator, adjust the long bolt so it sets nicly into the V groove, the tighten down the bolt that goes across this. This will keep it in place, then tighten the other bolts that hold it in place. Remember that there is also a bolt WAY down in the back.

As far as the car "jerking" under boost, I dont know what you mean. Fuel Cut?

Good luck

 

[lilpastrana]

no no no it is the alternator belt, and the car almost overheats
it doesnt tho, i drove it about 3 miles, let it cool, then 3 miles home. and the alt. belt slips and slips and slips, then it will break, Im positive that it does this, the car doesnt die, in that amount of time, it idles better some how, and the car would always jerk when low rpms trying to go to high, the power steerin belt must have broke too, because i dont have that either. this is all in about 15 min this happend

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

ok so i let my friend drive my car and it was a lil snowy and he kicked it down went through 1st 2nd 3rd with the tires spinnin, redlinin witch was weird cuz with the jerking the car doesnt redline, and then the alternator belt broke, no powersteering, no heat, then later i drove the car home, it seemed to idle fine witch was weird, so i was going like 45 and put it in 5th and gave it gas, and it didnt jerk at all? but the boost gauge went up slowly. This would be the 3rd alternator belt that has broken, somehow it loosens up and it slips and b4 i can tighten it, it snaps, i dont know why the tensionor slips, it boogles my mind, it has a new alternator, and the egr is blocked of only mods, o and ony day when it was (-) degrees i opend the hod when it was runnin and i could see just the tinnest leak on the back of the motor, but i was thinkin that could be the egr valve, not sure. And when the car is on ACC and i open the hood i can hear a constant ticking ..... sounds like it is commin from the top back of the motor.. i dont know what its called.. well i just thought i would post about the alternator thing, it boogled my mind, tell me what ya think thanks,
1991 plymouth laser 2.0 t fwd

Redline spinning is ok until you hit a patch of dry asphalt or something that abruptly stops the wheel spin. You can only imagine the results of that. Now, as far as the alternator, I would hand spin the alternator to check to see if it's binding. If it is not binding, I would put on a good belt. I prefer GATES. The power steering belt is ran off the water pump pulley which also is a part of the alternator belt. You have to have water flow to keep your engine cool. Make sure that everything you look at spins freely and is not binding. When you get your new belt on check by looking laterally down the belt to make sure it's tracking straight and is not trying to slip. Once you put on a new belt, you may have to adjust it a couple of times due to stretch. If you don't, you can burn the belt and that leads to early failure. Also, look at your crank pulley to make sure it's not coming apart.

Good Luck

 

[92awddsm]

I agree with Old mitsu teck as far as the harmonic balancer is concerned. If you keep losing belts, That might be the problem.

As far as it running better when the belt breaks, that could be a bad thermostat. If it runs better without the belt, I would install a new thermostat because that would lead me to believe that the running issue is temperature related.

Cliff notes: No alt belt means no power steering. Belts keep failing means either bad alt bearings, loose lower bolt in altenator, or failing crank pulley. No alt belt means it runs warmer and drivability improves. Leads me to belive faulty thermostat stuck open keeping car from going into closed loop.

 

[theSicKness]

one other thing it could be is your alternator going bad...everyonce in a while ull get one that is still putting out the correct amperage but is going bad...they start locking up check your alternator pully and see if it will spin freely...if that isnt the case i agree w/ mitsu tech


Jesse

 

[Defiant]

As always, it's the harmonic balancer.

 

[lilpastrana]

o and on the door it says sept 1990, does that mean that the car is a 1990? on the title it says it is a 1991..???? what is the big difference between 90-91

 

[xveganxcowboyx]

Cars are often made and sold before the model year. This is why you could buy '2006' models 6 months ago. You should have the 91 style.

I don't know all the differences, but I believe the ecu is different. Some connections including TPS. I believe some accessorie parts may be moved a bit.

 

[lilpastrana]

well, i bought a gates alt. belt installed it and when i went to put the belt on, the alt. mount bolt was just hanging in there.. so i put a lock washer in there and tightend that thing as tight as i could and the belt if tight, i think i was brekin belt because that back bolt was only finger tight and it finally was commin out then i drove it and the same ol same ol..im buying wires and plugs this weekend.. ill keep up updated on the changes

 

[97AWDTSITALON]

My car keeps chewing up the belt that goes to the crank, water pump and alternator, i've replaced it 3 times already. While the engine is running you can sometimes smell burning rubber and smoke sometimes comes off of the belt, also before it eats the belt it will almost completely chew off the ribs on the inside of the belt, My first assumption was that either the alternator or water pump was locking up, but both of them spin freely and smoothly when turned by hand. The only thing I havn't checked is the Crank Pulley and Im not sure of how to do that.

 

[awdtsis]

how tight have the belts been. have you heard any squealing,

 

[UNDER_PRESSURE]

Check to see if any of the pulleys are bent, could very well be your problem.

 

[luv2rallye]

Also check to see if the water pump pulley isn't on backwards. Sight down the pulleys and see if they match up.

 

[oldman]

Harmonic balancer is probably separated.

 

[zimus]

Harmonic balancer i would check this as well, when mine went it was the same way you could see smoke coming out from by the belts, it had separated and the rubber was rubbing the belts.

 

[Jroc81]

I would say to definitely check the crank pulley (Harmonic balancer) For any play. Its actually a two piece structure held together by a piece of rubber. When this piece of rubber wears out you get all sorts of belt issues and then eventually they all break or skip (except the timing belt which is on the other side of the engine shields). Take any belt tension off of the crank pulley that you can, and try to jiggle it. If it feels like one solid piece its ok for a while, as they all eventually fail. One simple thing is, making sure your belt tension is set correctly. The alternator belt should have between 1/4 and 3/4in. of vertical play in it, in the center of its longest open area, between the alternator and the crank pulley. If it were set too tight then this too, would lead to broken belts.

 

[kronus]

Also, check the pulleys for any sharp edges. Epsecially around the ribbed areas. Little knicks could tear into the belts, weakening them, and leading to the breaks.

-Kevin-

 

[talondude4]

harmonic balancer.

 

[97AWDTSITALON]

Thanks for all of the replies guys, I ordered an 18G from forced performance on monday so the talon is down for now as I have begun removing the T-25, as soon as I get the new turbo on I will check the crank pulley and get back to you.

 

[missionx96x]

ok im having a hard time getting my alternator belt on. i know i have the right size belt becasue i bought two of them. one is a little too big other is a little too small and there is no size in between. is there anything i can do to the belt to help it strecth a little bit more? just enough for me to slip it on?? please help me out here i am stumped

 

[DSMstatus]

ok im having a hard time getting my alternator belt on. i know i have the right size belt becasue i bought two of them. one is a little too big other is a little too small and there is no size in between. is there anything i can do to the belt to help it strecth a little bit more? just enough for me to slip it on?? please help me out here i am stumped

belts are best put on by the big pulleys first the putting it aroung the smallest pulley last.

 

[awdtalontsi1992]

Are you sure it's the correct belt. It really shouldn't be that hard to get it on if it is the right one. The best way to do it is slip it on all the pulleys except one. On the last pulley slip it on the one side of the pulley. Rotate the pulley and the belt should guide it's way on.

 

[hereitcomes]

If the belt is the wrong size its going to make the job a lot harder, and the belt wont be doing its job.
Loosen the adusting bolt on the alternator almost all the way out (3/4 I use.)
Put the belt around the larger pulley first, and then you can get it on the smaller pulley by turning the alternator assembley and rotating the belt on. While doing all of this you can also move the alternator back and forth as well becuase the adjusting bolt is loose.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

Make sure you have the alternator all the way loose. If it is it should be very easy to slide the belt over the pulley.

 

[missionx96x]

ok i got a new belt and it fits on. question about the tension bolt. how tight can it go bcuz i see on it that theres about a 3/4 inch of space o nthe top of the bolt that has no thread. ca it get tightened almost all the way down however?