Belt to alt. is coming off! HELp...

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

ok i started my car and everything seemed fine. i heard what sounded like a small pop and seconds later i smelled smoke. poping the hood, it looked like it was coming from where the alt. is. on carefull inspection, it looks like the belt to the alt. is coming off and i assume thats what the smell of burning is but am not sure. is there an easy to slide that belt back on? im hoping its not a bad alt., but i dont think it is cuz my car wouldnt start if it was bad correct?

help!

thanks
my_gst95

barney · Dec 16, 2002

Another broken crank pulley.

tekky_98_TSi · Dec 16, 2002

my_gsT95 said:
ok i started my car and everything seemed fine. i heard what sounded like a small pop and seconds later i smelled smoke. poping the hood, it looked like it was coming from where the alt. is. on carefull inspection, it looks like the belt to the alt. is coming off and i assume thats what the smell of burning is but am not sure. is there an easy to slide that belt back on? im hoping its not a bad alt., but i dont think it is cuz my car wouldnt start if it was bad correct?

help!

thanks
my_gst95

depends on how its bad... bad regulator car will start, but wont recharge the battery, will run off the batteries on juice.... or will charge enough to keep the car running and NOT kill the battery while driving but cranking it will lower the power... to put the belt back on you just losen the tensioner and push/pull the altenator up to give the belt slack and put it on.... then push the altenator back down to tension the belt, tighten the bolts back (you may have to losen 1 other bolt at the bottom of the altenator where ti bolts to the block) start the car, if its squeeling, tighten the belt some more, and repeat till you get it not squeeling... you can test the play in other belts to see about how tight you need it to go.... before starting the first time....

HTH

*edit* or as Bareny said... I guess, it could very likely be a seperating crank pulley... that one always slips my mind

*edit*

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

ok, so i have to get to the bolt thats holding the alternator pully correct? looks pretty tricky to get down to it. Well, would a bad alternator constantly smoke? im as u can see a newbie, and am just hoping that the burning smell is the rubber of the belt being rubbed incorrectly...

my_gst95

mowen101 · Dec 16, 2002

1 does the alt. pully spin freely. if yes then see 2 if no replace alt
2 is belt in good condition ,if yes see3, no. get new belt
3 loosen only mounting bolts not pully bolt. normaly 1 at top of alt and 1 at tentioner. adjust tentioner to allow slack. install belt. adjust tentioner tighten mounting bolts. you have now installed belt

barney · Dec 16, 2002

I'd go take a quick look at the crank pulley before messing with the alternator. If the outside rim will wiggle then that's the problem.

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

update

ok heres what happened...

i put the belt back on by loosening the alternator. pushed back and tighted it again. i started the car, but no smoke. there was only a small faint smell but it seemed fine. so i took it for a test drive. It drove ok, but when i parked it back in the garage, it started to smoke again. so i poped the hood open.

everything looked like it was ok. i tried starting the car again and now its making this really loud squeel from where the alternator is abouts. i thought it could be a loose belt, but i tightened everything down, even used belt dressing and when i started it, my brother noticed that it starts to squeel BEFORE the belts start to actually move. and i can smell it start to smoke as i step on the gas...

my_gst95

ho chi inn · Dec 16, 2002

YO! you're not listening. barney has told you TWICE that it is the harmonic balancer. keep ignoring him, and your balancer will totally disintegrate, and take the timing belt, too. then, you will hear the sound of silence, and waaay off in the distance, a cash register will be ringing.

tekky_98_TSi · Dec 16, 2002

ho chi inn said:
YO! you're not listening. barney has told you TWICE that it is the harmonic balancer. keep ignoring him, and your balancer will totally disintegrate, and take the timing belt, too. then, you will hear the sound of silence, and waaay off in the distance, a cash register will be ringing.

Yah check the crank pulley, just jack the car up from the front, turn wheels to left all the way (easiest in my opinion to reach that area that way) and see if it wiggles.... another possible cause.... PS pump leaking down onto altenator.... (mine did with similiar symptoms...)

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

ok, thanks barney. i checked the balancer down there and i found that for some reason what i think is the blanace shaft belt came off, so it was burning the rubber belt, thus the smell. im just curious as to how my car can run without that belt properly? ive heard of ppl removing their balance shaft completely...can i do this?

my_gst95

barney · Dec 16, 2002

Unless you have the timing belt cover off you are not looking at the balance belt.

The rim of the crank pulley is attached to the hub by rubber. It is not uncommon for the rubber to fail. When this happens the rim will wobble causing the accessory belts to come off of their pulleys. It will also smell of burnt rubber.

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

well the belt had snapped. the burnt smell was coming from the belt rubbing on the pully as well as causing the squell. im looking at the pully underneath that looks like its holding the alternator belt and the power steering belt (?). if this is the one ur talking about, then the power steering belt had snapped off. i took it for a test drive and it seemed like it was ok again, no smoke, no burnt smell. the only thing i had noticed is that the steering wheel felt as if it had less resistance to it when turning. is my car safe to drive without this belt? and i checked if that pully was wobbeling or not, and i didnt see any evidence of it wobbeling. thanks again for ur patience.

my_gst95

tekky_98_TSi · Dec 16, 2002

the pulley we are talking about its the CRANKSHAFT pulley, very center bottom of the motor (roughly RIGHT behind the drivers side front tire....), if you look at the altenator there is a double pulley that also holds the belt to the PS pump... (note the PS/Altenator double pulley is SOLID not rubber, it does not do any harmonic balancing) BELOW that is the crank pulley (also a double pulley as it holds the AC belt and the Alt/Water pump belt but this one DOES have a rubber section that helps with harmonic balancing) its fine to drive without the PS belt... just means you wont have power steering.... which IMO sucks to not have... its harder to rotate the tires at lower speeds w/o it... great workout for your arms though

Hope that answers your last questions

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

i really need to get my hanes manual back from my friend. just so that im clear as to what pully is what and which belt is which:

if i look directly down with the hood open it looks like the first pully is the A/C pully correct? which is connected to the bigger Double pully, then connected to the Alternator pully as well. The alternator pully goes down and is connected to the Double CrankPully (correct?), which goes back closer to the firewall and connected to the Power Steering pully. Well the belt that i "think" connects the Crank pully at the very bottom going back to the firewall where i "think" is the Power Steering pully snapped.

The only reason why im just clarifiying is because when driving to work today, the power steering seemed fine. The only odd thing i noticed is that there is a small humming/light squeel while the car is on. So i know me being a noobie im not getting the pully's/belts right. and i wouldnt be bugging u guys since i do have a manual, its just i dont have it on me. thanks in advance.

my_gst95

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

heres a quick sketch of which belt broke (in red)

anyone? i hope im not damagin my car without that belt...

my_gst95

stanfosd · Dec 16, 2002

my_gsT95 said:
heres a quick sketch of which belt broke (in red)

anyone? i hope im not damagin my car without that belt...

my_gst95

What you have labelled as the A/C is actually the power steering pump. The unlabelled pulley (the one that drives the power steering pump) is the water pump. The pulley/belt in question (the one labelled with '?') is for your A/C

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

ok i hope i got this right for my future preference. so if the crank pully isnt wobbeling, but theres a slight squeeling/rubbing sound, is it safe to drive without an a/c belt there?

my_gst95

stanfosd · Dec 16, 2002

That last pic is accurate.

It is safe to drive without the a/c belt on there, but you wont be able to use the a/c.

If there is a rubbing/squeeling sound, I would get it checked. Bad things can happen. I would also recomend checking your crank pulley. The outer ring starts to seperate from the inner hub and it makes a rubbing sound. They typically fail on 2Gs anywhere from 30K miles up to 100K miles, but they typically do fail.

my_gsT95 · Dec 16, 2002

Wow! so the whole crank pulley may need to be replaced eh? hope its not difficult to get that puppy off as im gonna try it myself once i get my hanes back. i figure, might as well replace that and my 2 belts that connect to it while im at it. i tried calling around for a 'crank pulley' and looks like only Satan has them...damn.

my_gst95

stanfosd · Dec 16, 2002

my_gsT95 said:
Wow! so the whole crank pulley may need to be replaced eh? hope its not difficult to get that puppy off as im gonna try it myself once i get my hanes back. i figure, might as well replace that and my 2 belts that connect to it while im at it. i tried calling around for a 'crank pulley' and looks like only Satan has them...damn.

my_gst95

air tools make the job easy.

Check www.partznet.com. I think the crank pulley is ~$100. Also, RRE has them (www.roadraceengineering.com) Just make sure that you DO NOT get the underdrive pulley as it does not have the harmonic dampener on it.

Belt to alt. is coming off! HELp...

my_gsT95

barney

tekky_98_TSi

my_gsT95

mowen101

barney

my_gsT95

ho chi inn

tekky_98_TSi

my_gsT95

barney

my_gsT95

tekky_98_TSi

my_gsT95

my_gsT95

stanfosd

my_gsT95

stanfosd

my_gsT95

stanfosd

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