Early Belt Failure...
02-18-2004, 11:30 AM
#12
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Originally Posted by willwren
Pete, that belt shouldn't cost more than 20 to 30 bucks tops, and takes 2 minutes to change.
But I can't spend $70 to get it done again if there'* no reassurance it was done right.
02-18-2004, 11:31 AM
#13
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I'd hesitate to put a good Gatorback on there until you know what'* going on. What I would do if I were you is remove this belt, flip it around, and re-install it. Watch for wear. If everything looks ok later, put on the Gatorback.
02-18-2004, 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by willwren
I'd hesitate to put a good Gatorback on there until you know what'* going on. What I would do if I were you is remove this belt, flip it around, and re-install it. Watch for wear. If everything looks ok later, put on the Gatorback.
02-18-2004, 12:57 PM
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i was a little apprehensive about changing out my SC belt the first time too, but its really fairly easy. Your serpentine belt should be no different. Just take some pics before hand so you know you got the right alignment.
02-18-2004, 04:54 PM
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Re: Early Belt Failure...
Originally Posted by jr's3800
First off I am not a fan of kelly belts and it looks like what you have... Kelly'* just suck ***.... Second it looks like the belt is riding the right areas, but the only one I can't see is the Harmonic balancer pulley.... This is the one pulley I have seen a few people screw up including myself... It almost looks as if your belt actually rode the foward or passenger side of the balancer pulley one tooth over and wore the outside of the belt off... I'll almost bet thats what happened.... Most kelly belts don't come apart like that for no reason... And most usually last better than a year... But the quality is not that great... You can get another kelly belt for a low price and install it and see if you have the same issue down the road.. But I think the belt may heve been installed wrong on the crank pulley... I'd love to look under the car and see... And I would replace the belt for you if you were closer..
Oh and pete do yourself the favor and install the belt on your own bud... It will only take 2 minutes to do, as you will not need to remove an engine mount to do so... The Belt tensioner will use an 18mm socket and a good ratchet, you'll move it as if you were trying to remove the bolt from the tensioner pulley( but the bolt is a left hand thread so it will not come out if you are trying to loosen the bolt) this will remove the tension from the belt so you can remove the belt... You may have a belt routing diagram on the radiator pannel of the car or in the owners manual... If not I can send you a routing diagram... Save yourself the money bud...
I'll try and get under it to see. And the whole right side of the belt isn't wore out either, just a foot long section (after I had pulled on the loose end and cut it off). But I think I'll do the belt myself too. I need to save the 70 some odd dollars for the meet in March! 
Don, any chance you'd want to take a vacation to Syracuse? It'* not TOO cold
J/K.
02-18-2004, 07:43 PM
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Thanks Don. I bet it won't take long at all either. I'm amazed how much they charge for a belt replacement, when it should only take them a couple mintues as well. It can't be TOO hard to line it up in the grooves. Although I am a little nervous about getting it perfect on the crank pulley now 
I should be able to get it right wthout having to go under the car.
I'll do it first with this belt anyway, since if I don't line it up right, it won't matter since the belt is crap anyway It will be good practice. I'd ask my dad for help but I don't let him touch my car anymore, not after that plug wire incident! Bill knows what I'm talking about
I should be able to get it right wthout having to go under the car. I'll do it first with this belt anyway, since if I don't line it up right, it won't matter since the belt is crap anyway
It will be good practice. I'd ask my dad for help but I don't let him touch my car anymore, not after that plug wire incident! Bill knows what I'm talking about
02-18-2004, 08:18 PM
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Thanks for the tips! BTW, if the belt was wrong on the crank pulley...is there even a possibilty of something being wrong with the crank pulley itself? Please say no
The plug wires..well, I wanted him to replace the plugs,and I was going to do the Taylors myself since I KNEW what I was doing. But without telling me he started doing the wires without me. And he was doing 3 at a time! He was getting them all mixed up, and screwing me up too as I was trying to figure out what the hell he did. Then I WATCHED him screw up the 1, 3, 5 wires. And when he said, "start it up," I told him it wasn't going to start. And it didn't. Nasty sound too. I then told him which ones he screwed up (4 wires total). I changed them around, and it was perfect.
The plug wires..well, I wanted him to replace the plugs,and I was going to do the Taylors myself since I KNEW what I was doing. But without telling me he started doing the wires without me. And he was doing 3 at a time! He was getting them all mixed up, and screwing me up too as I was trying to figure out what the hell he did. Then I WATCHED him screw up the 1, 3, 5 wires. And when he said, "start it up," I told him it wasn't going to start. And it didn't. Nasty sound too. I then told him which ones he screwed up (4 wires total). I changed them around, and it was perfect.
02-18-2004, 08:24 PM
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Originally Posted by jr's3800
And I'll bet this in some way pissed dad off.... Telling my dad he was wrong was like punching a brick wall... I was always wrong when fixing his car... Funny $350 later and me saying the ECU(elcetronic control unit) was bad, which required that I replace the computer... He didn't think that was the problem... after a monnth of sitting the car fired right up...LMAO... He had nothing to say.
Bill, I was pissed.
Probably more so as he was doing it.