hi all

pulled my alt. to find the engine number and noticed the alt. drive belt was looking a little old with lots of minor cracks on the inner side, (1992, 90,000kms/60,000mls)

what is the change interval on the belts, how easy is it for the average skilled owner to do solo?

eric e

and may have found a minor coolant leak from the waterpump at the same time

 

I base belt change interval upon how they are wearing. When they really start having cracks, or show signs or drying out "becoming stiff" then I change them.

This depends on how much you drive the car, and how hot it is where you live.
Do it the same as any other car you have owned.

Ease of doing the work depends on your own ability. If you can't figure how to change your belts on your own, then never touch your car and pay someone to do it for you.

 

Changing the belts is easy. You just have to remove some air ducting to do it. Be carefull with the alternator belt tensioner bolt. I've snapped that thing once. They should be changed at least every 60K miles. Consider it cheap insurance. If the one driving the water pump goes, kiss your engine goodbye.

 

thanks Larz, that's just the info i was looking for

chuck, you had me until your last sentence, now i think all GT owners are tossers

 

yeah, it's real easy to change the belts:

remove the intercooler (be careful with the ast lines)
remove the air filter box (to give yourself more room)
loosen the alternator pivot bolt and then turn the tensioner bolt so the tension on the first/front belt gets loose enough to come off
then loosen the pivot bolt on the air pump and then the holding bolt which is located under the air pump, pivot the air pump down to loosen the second belt.
take both belt off and put on the new ones
now go in reverse order to put everything back together (while you're at it, if you haven't ever checked you air filter, take the time to do it now)
the tension on the belts i is that you should have about 1/4 inch flex in each belt when pushing on the belt at the very center between the 2 pulleys furthest apart from each other (correct me if I'm wrong on this guys)



..............christ, and to think I was terrified to work on this car when I first got it about 16 months ago...............

 

But some people need to be told that they need to learn how to think and take chances , instead of being babyed. I never said I was a nice person, I am truthful as was your reply.

You must have a UK education for such a word not normally used by US citizens.
Hope you do better with your car!


QUOTE=eric e]thanks Larz, that's just the info i was looking for

chuck, you had me until your last sentence, now i think all GT owners are tossers[/QUOTE]

 

fair nuf chuck

just that i used to used to be an airforce/airline mechanic and a simple belt change doesn't really scare me

BUT, if it is possible i always try to get the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from doing my homework before starting any new job for the 1st time

this kind of forum is THE best way to avoid repeating others mistakes when you work on your own car and all you have to do is search and ask

eric e

1 of the bits of good info i gleaned from others when i had my old porsche 924turbo was that you should never run the car with the sump filled to the "full" level on the dipstick. apparently the oil cooled turbo return line was below the "full" mark. a simple way to try and get the turbo bearings to last longer, and not coke up, was to only fill the sump to just above the "empty" mark on the dipstick. allowed a better flow through on shutdown

but not exactly intuitive is it.....

as for education, let's say 2500kms/1800mls? south east of australia

 

I don't think the coolant leak is anything to worry about - I've just taken the same bolt out and a leak started just like yours.

I guess it's just because the bolt isn't there anymore holding the front plate close enough to form a seal. It should seal up when you put the bolt back and tighten it up - or at least that's what I'm hoping!

 

actually goose i was pretty happy to find the leak because i've had a minor coolant lose problem i hadn't been able to trace

also the bolt going through that hole is the long one that hold the bottom of the alternator adjustment arm and it came out looking very rusty

i'm guessing that the minor coolant leak has been going on for some years before i got the car and am hoping that by changing the waterpump gasket i can stop it

have attached a pic of the rusty long alt/water pump bolt

also some surface rust on other parts around there like the waterpump pulley so as i said i think this has been a really minor leak for years

 

FWIW, it seems that most overlook the tension adjustment below the airpump. It's difficult to see and generally requires removal of the stock airbox. Other than that, simple, just don't over-tighten.

BTW: What is a "tosser"?

 

Nothing wrong with a little coolant in the hole, you just dont want it dripping out of there.

Belts are easy. Granted I dont have a Airpump or any Air Filter system to its easy to access. Easy thing even for a novice mech

 

Tosser = a man who plays with his *****

 

LOL, gotcha.

 

Glad to have another ex-arm forces member on the forum.

I was USAF, microwave communications (LOS and TROPO) and ground nav-aids
(ILS, TVOR, TACAN) stuff.

 

When replacing my belts recently (removed air pump), I had to remove the idle pulley to get enough slack to remove the aircon/power steering belt.
Unfortunately I didn't retorque the pulley enough and the nut holding it on came off after an hours driving.

Long story short, the pulley fell off and lost the collar holding the bearing on to the shaft (part 15-933A).

The part is cheap (NZD$13), but its ex Japan so I will have no power steering for 10 days

Also, I was able to find a 5pk belt made by Bosch which was perfect for the water pump/alternator after the air pump was removed. (Length of 760mm or close enough to 30")

 

Just so your aware, when you go replacing the water pump gasket you can, and generally do move the water pump housing around "breaking the seal" between the water pump housing and the front of the motor. It's a true pain in the arsse to have to pull that housing and clean it up to accept a new gasket. I'd clean that bolt up and place a tiny bit of silicone sealant on the threads and put the alternator arm back on without disturbing the rest of the water pump. Trust me "previous experiance" and way more involved than you want to get for a belt change. Jack

 

thanks jack

i'm cuttin and pasting all this good gen. into in a word doc. while i wait for the time to do the job

what with the danger of cracking the oil metering lines and now maybe opening up another leak on the water pump housing that sounds like a bodge to do quickly

that way i can drive it some more and watch that area closely when the coolant system is hot and under pressure, (can't borrow a pressure tester that easily in japan and reluctant to hand over $300 for one that i would probably only ever use once)

the car's not a daily driver, more of a rebuild project, so i don't need to go any faster than i'm happy with

eric e slowly, slowly

got to paint the rest of my wheels and calipers now i've decided that gunmetal wheels go well with red and silver

 

very clean!

 

putting it all back together now

to recap; - had to find the engine number

- needed to remove alternator to find it. eng# E101324, chassis# FD3S 109566

- noticed that the alternator/air pump/waterpump belt was looking pretty old with lots of cracks on the inside surface.
losing the alternator or airpump still allows you to drive home but losing the waterpump could easily warp the engine and at least require a tow

- bought new belt, N3A118381, from mazda for around US$35. aircon/powersteering belt looked ok

- noticed minor coolant leak from bolt that supports alternator tension arm and goes through waterpump, bolt rusty. had been looking for a leak....

- removed waterpump to check gasket. gasket looked ok but noticed it had been replaced before and lots of sealant had been used, (had someone been chasing this leak before i bought the car 3 months ago???)

- decided to remove waterpump housing as well to replace coolant gasket between the housing and engine

- with housing off decided to fit FC thermoswitch so radiator fans will come on at 98C instead of 108C, ordered from mazda, US$35

- tensioning the belts now. find the 1/4inch movement at center of longest run difficult to measure. will try my old rule of thumb which is a good twist at same spot will only allow 45degrees of twist. seems the same and much easier to measure

thanks all for the help

eric e

when i connect the battery i get a faint high pitch noise, sounds a bit like the headlight/key alarm in my nissan but seems to stay on all the time
hoping it goes away

any ideas anyone?