Need I say any more?
AA took 57 minutes to turn up, my longest ever wait.
A very simple breakdown but they just did not have the part.
Alternator belt.
Would most cars or vans give a warning light if it snapped?
We had this discussion in another thread when I noted that you no longer see broken 'fan' belts on the side of the road like we used to with the old V-belts.
having watched my neighbour wrestling with these belts on a variety of cars on his drive, I wouldn't want to have to try and replace on on the side of the road.
Some Fords don't even have means of adjustment. They are 'stretch fit' and need a special tool to guide it over all the ribs on the pulleys into the correct position.
For "special tool" do you mean a screwdriver?
I've seen two modern wide serpentine belts on the road in the last month. Like you I thought "not seen one of those for some time". Maybe they were fitted with a screwdriver?
The tool is a sort of ramp and using a screwdriver is going to damage the belt.
Some belt kits come with the tool, a bit of bent metal that clips to the pulley. Supposedly universal tools around £15.
I view expensive ones as franchise dealer lock in tool. Back street mechanic has to add the tool cost to the job as they may never see a 2nd one.
that is some polava all to save the manufacturer a few pence in manufacturing costs by omiting the tensioner...that with rubber cam belts they should be giving the engines away ....is there a list of manufacturers fitting these works of the devil ? ...
Don't they have a spring loaded jockey pulley?
Having only fitted belts with a tensioner, I quite like this tool-fit idea - saves the vagueness of the 'deflect 1/2" at mid-point', where that point is buried out of sight, and applies to what could well be a belt of different properties.
I would expect that if a manufacturer said 'deflect by 1/2"' it would be measured at the point of the tensioner wheel rather than at some arbitrary point where the belt is not normally deflected. I'd also expect the measurement to be unique to the belt - ie if you get one that is more stretchy, its deflection point would be different.
Ideally the bracket that the tensioner wheel is attached to should have a calibrated scale so you can see how far from the neutral position you have to move it before tightening the locking bolt.
Deflection at a midpoint or other accessible part *between* pulleys is the normal way to do it.
I imagine all modern belts are designed to be as ?un-stretchy? as possible but the difference in distance between pulleys on different engines means that a half inch of deflection on one engine won?t necessarily correspond to the same belt tension on another engine.
Tim
toothed belts do not NEED to be set to any great tension. More expensive to make esp. the pulleys but far longer lasting
Oh dear ....
Nope. nothing at all. The belt is made to fit with the correct tension from new, as installed on the production line. Saves a few quid per car, which mounts up if you build millions of them world-wide.
Saabs with their version of a GM engine had an enormous serpentine belt driving loads of stuff. That had a spring-loaded jockey wheel but you needed a long bar with a fitting that engaged with the jockey wheel body and two people to get the belt in place over and under all the pulleys while holding the jockey wheel back.
Presumably there's a slight elasticity to the belt that allows it to be fitted though ?
Over several cars (and I dread to think how many miles) with modern toothed belts, I?ve never seen one break or even show signs of wear.
Even the old style V fan belts weren?t that bad, I only ever replaced one ( on a friend?s Mini). I used to carry one in my Escort but it was still in the boot, unused, when I sold it.
Cam belts can be more of a problem. I did have one fail on my Orion. I?ve always been wary of them since but, touch wood, that is the only one I?ve had issues with.
As for tensioning, the method varies from car to car. Some specify a jig/ tool, others the deflection method at some point in the run. At least one I recall seeing details for involved a gentle twist of the belt.
They should have bought a decent engine from BMW. On mine - a 90s model, it was simple to lock the jockey pulley open, replace the belt, then release the tension back into the jockey pulley. Only ever did it once, and no special tools needed. IIRC, just a decent socket set and allen key. Way easier than changing and tensioning the fan belt on the older car. Provided you noted the route of the serpentine belt.
Yes. The 'special tool' is some sort of plastic deflector that allows the belt to gradually 'jump across' the multiple grooves while the engine is turned with a socket set. I'll ask my neighbour next time I see him, he has done a few.
Think they knew how to build a decent engine - some of the strongest and most innovative passenger car engines ever built in fact. And as well as the engineering, decent manufacturing methods (pre-GM at least).
Again - personally, I wouldn't lament the need for a service tool if it meant a better engineered solution with an assured fit. On the loose assumption it was reasonably easy to hire or buy.
On me old Fiesta, if you get a 'proper' OEM belt, there is a little bent piece of steel supplied that makes a very difficult job into a simple one. Instead of throwing it away after the job, I keep one in the car 'just in case'.
Their previous four cylinder unit was a much modified Triumph (BL) unit.
Yup - don't even think it was that modified in the early versions. I had a late 70s 99 which had the more modified and built in-house version. Splendidly bolted together car - but rusted to bits before its 20th birthday.
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