just had my Rx strand me for the first time ever i was in town running arrands, and when i got back into my car and started it up there was one helluva loud screeching noise. i figured the belts were just a little loose so i got out my trusty portable tool-set i always carry and tightened the belt just a little.

all seemed ok, for about 2 minutes. soon as i got moving a little faster the screeching came back with vengeance

despite the failure i pushed on for another couple of blocks since i was in traffic and had nowhere to pull over. next thing i know the inside of my car is literally filling up with smoke, so much that i can barely see.

first road i can turn off on, i do, pull over and shut off the engine. get out and examine... the belts had melted a fair bit, leaving little bits of melted plastic all over the place. i then put my hand on the alternator to lean in and get a better look (bad idea) the damn thing was hot as hell and i burned my hand a fair bit.

anyways -- since i've never had a problem with a seized water pump before i had to think a little if it was the alt or what was stopping the belt from moving, i removed the fan and belts and spun each pully by hand, the water pump would spin around once then stop dead. so i had found my problem. trouble was i was still a good 30k from home.

i slapped the fan back on (even tho it was useless without the belts) and managed to limp the car all the way home running on the battery alone and no water pump. i know this isnt safe but i kept a damn watchful eye on the temp gauge and was turning the engine off and coasting every chance i had.

by the time i got home my volt meter was showing 8v and the car was not sounding happy, but it did get me home without overheating.

moral of the story? always carry tools...

goddamn, i sure hope nothing like this happens again. scared me pretty good when the smoke came flying in the car.

 

Been there, Kind of did that.

 

what did you do then?

its too bad i didnt have any duct tape on me or something, then atleast i could have rigged up a pseudo belt to the alternator. driving on 8v is real neat.... backfire much?

 

I actually threw the belt, It had been squeeking for a day or so. I was about 5 miles from my spare belt (in the back of the car I had just sold) Drove half way and stopped to cool for a bit and then drove the rest of the way. Batt was fresh so even with the lights on it did not run down much.

 

and you didnt overheat like mad?

 

Odd thing was the temp went down.

 

so i put on a new waterpump today, and after inspecting the old one.. damn the seal was totally gone, nothing but little pieces of metal all over the front pulley area. i could only find one ball bearing left when removing it.

im suprised it was working at all. haha

 

I have been having an intesting issue ever since i changed my water pump recently. I have noticed that the belt that runs from the water pump to the alternater gets loose after some time. I tight the belt back then it gets loose again some time later. Is there any real reason why this is happening with that belt? I hope i didn't install anyting worng. She has been running fine...its jus that belt loosening has been an annoyance. Has anyone ever had this issue?

 

i feel ya man (though in in an rx) had my water pump seize in my 4runner, and same thing happened cept i got picked up and towed

 

Swap that belt out.

 

Water pumps wear out prematurely because of over-tightened belts. The FSM says to have about 1/2" or 16mm of play at the center of the belt with modest pressure. Sometimes an inexperienced mechanic over-tightens a belt and then the bushing wears out. It's happened to me a couple times in the last 50 years, in fact just last week! (If I could get my hands on that mechanics throat! Everything he did for me had a booby trap.)

I've also been stranded on the road with a broken belt (in the long distant past) so now I replace belts BEFORE they break (cheap and easy) then throw the still-good belts in the drivers side bin for an emergency. Of course, I always have the requisite 12 and 14mm sockets and box wrenches in the car too.

For a quick fix to squeaky belts you can squirt a little WD40 on the belts! Yes, they'll still slip but not with the squeak and they won't wear and overheat as fast as squeaky belts. Drive home and replace them. Put the old belts in the bin along with 12 and 14mm wrenches.

 

Where is the temperature gauge sending unit on a 12A? Even watching the temp gauge, I would be worried to run it without a water pump belt because the lack of circulating water would cause *some* part of the engine to be VERY hot, while the temp send unit (andgauge) are still within normal temps.

 

and speaking of over-tightening - the Bolts and nuts on the pump assy only need torquing to about 18ft/lbs!! Don't ream THOSE on either !!
Stu Aull
80G
Alaska

 

Yeah, and finger tighten the bolts/nuts before applying a wrench, then use a short handle ratchet. You can get a 3/8" drive torque wrench at harborfreight for about $10-$20. Go around the bolt pattern and snug them up gradually and uniformly.

 

Exactly.. I had a friend that took a rock to the radiator on his Yamaha R1, he decided to ride it home with it low and damn near out of coolant. After he told me that story I advised him that the temperature sending unit it in the base of the radiator, not the engine so without adequate coolant the temperature could not be read or would not be accurate. In a liquid cooling system it's never wise to assume to the temp is correct if the system is not circulating coolant as it should.

 

Bro, when you resurect an old thread for the purpose of asking help, ensure that you let the rest of the world know that you have resurrected a thread thats a couple of years old, I don't think anybody else pays attention half of the time.

A new belt will stretch by about 15% from when you first put it in. this equates to retightening it about twice. do not over tighten as it will F you bearings up in the water pump and the alternator.


cheers

Kenn

 

I think he knows about normal stretching. Just saying the part is so cheap swap it out. Sometimes it's just a defective belt.