Alternator belts

[hawkdoc60]

Cherry Bomb, an 88 L has been going through alternator belts since I replaced the engine. The third one almost went last night. The syptoms are a fine black rubber powder evenly spread out on the alternator and other accessories in the area, it starts squeaking at first, which I readjust tension, and then after a week or two, it finally will start squalling and smoking. The belt gets so worn down that it fits INTO the pulley groove on the alternator and results in the belt being extremely loose.

Before anyone tells me it is the tension, I have always adjusted the tension in accordance with the dealer maintenance manual. In fact, the last time I installed a belt, I marked the location of the alternator lug and it has never moved. I have checked alignment of the pulleys with a steel rule and they seem true. I have checked for wobbly pulleys and don't see any evidence of this. I thought the bearings on the alternator I replaced were getting too hot because they were noisy, and causing premature wear on the belt. This obviously is not the case.

Does anyone have any idea how I should tackle this, or what the root issue might be? Did I miss something in my pulley alignment check?

Thanks guys.

[JoDan]

Idk... maybe check to see if and oily substance is inside the pulleys also causing the belt to slip, which would cause it to wear down faster if the tension was right

[hawkdoc60]

The pulleys are bone dry. There is no oil on any of the pulleys. This is a mystery to me. I thought for sure the pulleys were not aligned, but they seem good.

[ejp2fast]

hmm, unless one of your pulleys is slightly off center putting more wear on the belt.. i doubt you have any fluid leaking on the belt. No noise from bearings or anything? Water pump gone out maybe??? Someone else with more knowledge may have to answer.

[hawkdoc60]

The water pump came new with the engine. It was a crate engine with new timing belt, tensioner, water pump, oil pump, etc. I thought at first I was hearing the timing belt tensioner, but when the alt. belts were burning up, I ruled that out quick. LOL I did think of the possibility I had a defective water pump on there, but there has been no evidence of leakage or overheating.

[j-stauf7]

Check all the pulleys for rust pitting where belt rides.

[hawkdoc60]

Check all the pulleys for rust pitting where belt rides.

With the exception of the new alternator, the pulleys do have rust in them. Would the rust really cause a problem?

[j-stauf7]

I have the same problem with a friends car, and the only thing that I can find is the rust. Can't say for sure because I never got around to fixing his yet.

[knux511]

are your pulleys crooked, not turning right? if their cock-eyed i could see that eating belts left and right

[rcottle]

What year engine? Crank pulleys could be different.. Did you check how easy the alternator and water pump spin? Is there any bolts sticking out of the front cover that may be touching the inside edge of the belt? Let me know would be glad to take a look at it with you....

[hawkdoc60]

are your pulleys crooked, not turning right? if their cock-eyed i could see that eating belts left and right

That was what I meant by checking for wobble. I guess I should have phrased it differently. LOL

[MONSOON]

Are you making sure youre tightening the lower bolt and not just the upper bolt. Bella was doing the same thing and then I discovered that bolt. Tightened it down and bingo no more troubles.

[hawkdoc60]

What year engine? Crank pulleys could be different.. Did you check how easy the alternator and water pump spin? Is there any bolts sticking out of the front cover that may be touching the inside edge of the belt? Let me know would be glad to take a look at it with you....

I don't know what year the engine originally was. I bought it as a rebuilt crate engine off of eBay. I did not realize that there might be differences in the pulleys. If you would like to come out, pm me with the times you might be available. I would love to get a second set of eyes on this.

[miami man]

my 93 is doing the same thing and i have tensioned the belt right and sprayed some belt dressing on it and it still does not helyp but i notices the timming cover is worn and leaking a little oil there and will change the cover this weekend. would you clean the pully with brake cleaner or what would you use?

[hawkdoc60]

my 93 is doing the same thing and i have tensioned the belt right and sprayed some belt dressing on it and it still does not helyp but i notices the timming cover is worn and leaking a little oil there and will change the cover this weekend. would you clean the pully with brake cleaner or what would you use?

Brake cleaner works great for that. We use it to clean oil off of aircraft engines.