Check your belts

BillM · 08-20-10, 06:00 PM

I had replacement belts laying around for a while. Finally got around to changing them. Visually checking the old belts on the car they looked OK. Here is the old belt bent the way it mounts on the car:

Here it is bent the other way:

Needless to say it was time time change them. Remove air intake box (including bottom to get to the airpump bolt, crossover tubes, strut bar and front plastic air box. Loosen the idler nut and adjustment bolt, alternator and adjustment bolt, air pump and adjustment bolt. Remove the two belts and put it all back together. The job went easy except for mounting the new alternator/airpump belt. Trick I used was to get the belt over everthing except the alternator. Then slowly push it over the lip of the alternator pully by using a ratchet to turn the alternator nut.

Cheap insurance. I used the Goodyear gator back belts and they fit fine. Took about an hour.

fd0 · 08-25-10, 05:28 PM

Looks like my used Jetta that I bought with 136k miles. All the previous owners never took care of it! They were on original spark plugs, fuel filter, water pump, timing belt, etc.

Only thing they bothered to change was the transmission fluid which hid the issues with it until much later after the purchase.

grrr

DaveW · 08-25-10, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillM

I had replacement belts laying around for a while. Finally got around to changing them. Visually checking the old belts on the car they looked OK.

Here it is bent the other way:

....

I know it looks bad, but that appearance is fairly common, and NOT a sign of impending failure. The guide grooves are still intact, and until the cord structure deteriorates or portions of the groove structure starts to chunk out, it would function for a long time yet w/o problems.

Of course, it certainly was better to change it than to take chances. Carry the used one as an emergency spare. That's what I am doing.

SonicFD · 08-25-10, 05:41 PM

If you're not reusing them just loosen everything and cut the bastards off.

I used the same trick as you to get the new belt over the alternator pulley. Pretty much the only way to go about it easily.

Sgtblue · 08-25-10, 07:38 PM

A good reminder of some basic maintenance.

live2drive15 · 08-25-10, 08:35 PM

It is much easier to slide the belt over the water pump pulley as it has no lip. Same goes for the idler pulley. Also has no lip.

rotarymandan · 08-25-10, 09:42 PM

I've been thinking in the back of my mind that I needed to do this... Maybe this thread is a sign that I should finally do it!

82mazdarx7 · 09-06-10, 05:41 PM

Do you need to loosen up anything on the air pump. I loosened everything on the alternator and was able to get the old belt off, but cant get the new one one. Tried sliding the belt over the alternator and turning the nut to try to slip it on, and also tried slipping it on to the water pump pully but no luck. Just got my fd and this is my first belt change, just wondering if there are any tricks to it. Thanks

adam c · 09-06-10, 07:09 PM

Yep. You may need to loosen the air pump too.

Sgtblue · 09-06-10, 07:49 PM

Look under the AP, there's a (IIRC) 12mm bolt on an adjustment arm. If you still have the stock airbox, you'll have to remove that. Loosen that and you should be able to get the new belt on.

BillM · 09-06-10, 08:06 PM

Remove air intake box (including bottom to get to the airpump bolt, crossover tubes, strut bar and front plastic air box. Loosen the idler nut and adjustment bolt, alternator and adjustment bolt, air pump and adjustment bolt.

live2drive15 · 09-06-10, 09:38 PM

Ditto, loosen the top mounting bolt on the air pump and the lower bolt on the adjustment arm for the Air Pump. The reason you could get your old one off is because it was stretched/worn out.

82mazdarx7 · 09-06-10, 11:32 PM

Thanks guys for the help! Quick question that's unrelated. When I took off the intake hose that goes from the turbo into the intercooler, there is some oil that coats the inside of the hose, Not a lot just lightly coats the inside of the hose. Is this normal? thanks for the input, im use to my 82, the fd is a whole different beast. one last thing, she is all stock.

live2drive15 · 09-06-10, 11:43 PM

Some oil in the intake is common, but too much is a bad thing. If it's just a little I wouldn't worry about it but if it gets worse you might consider an oil catch can.

SonicFD · 09-06-10, 11:48 PM

Clean it out if you want but there is nothing wrong.

Sgtblue · 09-07-10, 05:45 AM

Dish soap and hot water works great for cleaning out your intercooler.