jetfire76

i've posted before about having problems w/ my alternator belt breaking all the time but now this is getting ridiculous. i have tried numerous brands of belts but they all suffer the same fate. it was suggested that maybe my alternator was seizing so i went out and bought an FD alternator w/ double pulley from silverrotor. i thought that would solve my problem but it snapped the two belts i put on there after about 2 weeks AT THE SAME TIME!! so much for that. so right now i have no clue what it can be. my AC and P/S belts are fine so it cant be the crank pulley. the water pump pulley spins freely. hell, ALL the pulleys spin freely. one thing i did notice was after i installed 2 new belts yesterday(my 11th belt in 10 months), i started the car and let it run for a couple minutes. afterward i went to clean some dust off the alt pulley and it burned to the touch!! the other pulleys werent even hot. the result was the alt. belts were VERY hot. the other belts were fine. is this normal? the car was on for like 2 mins and the alt pulley got very hot! so i'm thinking this excessive heat from the alt.pulley is causing the accelerated wear on the belts. weird thing is that i dont think my original alt. was getting this hot. yet that broke belts just as much as the new one is. i dont know. i am at a real loss and am about to break down and send this thing to the dealership or something. other than that, my car runs great. it's hard to enjoy driving it w/ that possibility of the belt breaking looming over me. so frustrating when a simple belt is your achilles' heel.

-jet-

SureShot

You have found the problem.
That hot pulley is not normal.
That heat had to come from abnormal friction or load.

A huge steady current load on the alternator is possible, but I would suspect the pulleys are misaligned.
The alternator pulley is not in the same plane as the water pump & crank pulleys.

fong

iTrader: (77)

or you set the belt too tied. overstrength will burn a new belt easily. as me how I know that.

jetfire76

1/2" deflection on the long side(right side) of the belt, right? that's what i did...atleast that's what i thought i did. problem is one person may apply more pressure on the belt than i would to measure the deflection or vice versa. so how the hell can you get it accurate? using one of those tool thingys? where can i get one? i never find them at auto stores.

SureShot

For an overtightened belt to get hot - we're talking banjo string tight.
If you can deflect the belt ~1/2" with a ~10 lb push, you're close enough.

Put a straight edge on the alternator pulley & see where it hits the water pump pulley.

Another possibility the alternator pulley is worn out & the belt is rubbing on the base of the V.
V-belts are only supposed to contact the sides of the pulleys.

jetfire76

alt. double pulley is brand new.
ok, cool. thanks for the input.

SureShot

Are the belts wide enough to ride up in the V & not down on the flat?

jetfire76

i'll have to check that. thanks.