Alternator belts getting eaten fast! - -> Range Rover Classic

On or around Thu, 29 Dec 2005 18:53:23 -0800, "Wayne Lambright" enlightened us thusly:

check the belt tension is in fact right. If it's one of those with a very short belt going from another pulley to the alternator, it's easy to have it slack without it being obvious.

It ought really to be a 13mm or 1/2" belt, not a skinny one, if you have the right pulleys.

make sure the belt alignment is OK.

first thing is to check alternator to see if its shaft still spins freely , you may find its gone tight and thats why belt has gone , requiring a new alternator possibly ..

check the metal fan at rear of pulley to make sure it isnt touching something and making it rub , although youll probably hear this if it is .

also check that the aluminium casting in the lower mounting bolt area is not cracked .

check battery has not lost its acid and youre trying to charge a dried out battery .

in this weather its best to charge battery up with a charger every so often and leave it on charge for a day .

belts dont like rusty pulleys, so check pulley and buff up with wire wheel if needed .

hope this helps

Hello Austin.

Oh.. I think you found it, my belt is 9mm wide " a skinny one"

the pully spin's freely also, and the alignment is ok.

I'll get a 13MM belt from the dealer and let you know how it goes.

thanks for your help.

wayne

On or around Fri, 30 Dec 2005 08:11:37 -0800, "Wayne Lambright" enlightened us thusly:

note that it has to have wide enough pulleys. some of the 13mm pulleys have a deep V and will take either kind of belt. some have less V and if you put a thin belt on 'em, they wear out before long:

pulleys belts \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \__/ \_/ \ / \_/ \/

the pulley on the left will run OK with a thin belt (right) lower down the pulley. The pulley on right will work fine for a very short time but then the narrow belt will bottom out and it'll slip.

Austin, thanks for your help.

the 13MM wide belt did the job.

It was your suggestion that solved my problem.

Thanks for your help.

Wayne

a photo of my rover.

'ere some one's nicked yer steerin' wheel!

On or around Sat, 31 Dec 2005 08:14:34 -0800, "Wayne Lambright" enlightened us thusly:

well, that's a nice start to the new year. Hmmm. must order an exhaust for the TDi.