Just finished my oil change and decided to take the FD for a little spin to make sure everything was lubed properly. Got the car all warmed up everything was good so I went for a little spirited driving run. Did a fairly strong rolling pull in 2nd gear and all of a sudden the Charge light, ABS, OIl pressure lights came on.

Car was running fine, and discovered that the belt for the WaterPump/Alt was off. It wasn't torn, simply off. Bear in mind this belt is maybe 1.5 yrs old at this point. Alternator tensioner was at the same spot, not loose, etc. I have the Pineapple racing Idler, but that has been on for the last 1.5 yrs with the new belt.

So I guess my question here, is what could cause the FD to just throw the WaterPump/Alt belt? No crazy sounds like a bad bearing, everything is spining fine... Just trying to get to the bottom of this before it happens again, or causes a larger problem.

Any thoughts?

 

Was the belt wet? ie does it have oil on it from a blow off valve? Without seeing your engine bay it's hard to say. What do your pullies look like? Does the water pump pulley still have ribs on it?

 

Rich, all great points. Pulleys are in great condition ribs etc. Belt was not wet, BUT, now that I think about it, I still have the stock Valves in place and one of them is aimed right at the Idler...

Been meaning to get an after market BOV anyway, so this may be the reason to do it. I bet that is what happened!

 

Make sure something wasn't pushing against it or something. Or the belt could have been too loose also. There should be a logical explanation. No amount of oil on the belt can make it come off that I can think of, it's got to be mechanical.

Dale

 

Thanks Dale. I reset the belt and re-did the tension on the alternator... guess I will see what happens and will watch it carefully. Interesting that it happened after a 2nd Gear WOT pull...

 

So it happened again. It occurs in 1st gear, at WOT when load is eliminated from the Motor(clutch depressed) at high RPMS 7K+. I am betting the belt is shot and needs to be replaced. Pulley's are fine, no oil....

 

With the car running in the driveway, have a buddy get in and push the clutch in and out a few times and watch your front pulley. Make sure it's not moving in and out. If it is, you've got thrust bearing problems.

Also, simply watching it when running in the driveway you should be able to see what's going on.

Either that or you have in on there way loose.

Dale

 

Better get that figured out quick.

I'll give you a call Friday. Maybe catch up earlier if you can to check it out.

 

I had an issue with the torrington bearing under the oil pump cover go bad. The crank pulley would wobble just a hair and throw the belt.

 

Phew... No movement when running with depressing and letting out the clutch multiple times. No wobbling of the main pulley either. Put the belt back on and checked, recheck, and checked again to make sure it was on right after running. Seems good. Will road test a bit tonight and see.

I guess I chalk this up to a Noob relapse moment. In either case it is good to know about the thrust bearing.

Christian, you around for a lil jaunt through the neighborhoods?

 

Just for kicks, why don't you take a look and see if the pulley's all line up?