Serpentine belts and Pulley Crap

I've spent the last three days in the rain and wind, replacing an alternator, to me it's not the quality but the design that's foolish. Having to loosen the very bracket the thing sits in and use the bolt as a lever to twist the alternator sideways so one can get the bolt past the firewall? Come on! Give me a break. What idiot dreamed this up? And what's this with the double belts? (1988 900s 16v)? There's no way to remove them and change them without a major struggle. I have a certified Nissan mechanic and a Jeep mechanic as neighbors, these guys make their living working on vehicles, and they are as confused and disgusted as I am about the mess under that hood. One of the two redundant belts was partly toothless, and twisted itself inside out. After well over an hour of trying various things to twist it back over, the three of us couldn't make any progress, I lost my temper and cut the thing off. Anybody else do this? Will it do any harm? There's still a belt running the water pump, alternator, and power steering. I gave up on the a/c long ago, bought the car used and the a/c belt was off, so I've left it that way, (don't use it anyhow). James F. Hodgdon Jr. Hodgdon Scale Models

I'll have to disagree on that. I once had one of the two belts break while driving. Made a hell of a noise, but having a second one meant I could carry on driving just fine!

interrupted

Jack O'.

Your expenses appear to mostly related to the fact that you are allowing yourself to be royally screwed by the dealer's service department: $250 for a belt and idler puller? Continental belt is $30 SAAB OEM pulley kit is $35 So it appears that they got you for $185 for a half hour job?

The SAAB OEM idler puller is $35 too, BTW, buit the tensioner assembly (which includes the bracket) it pretty pricey at $170

Then later, you need a new crank pulley? Why? They hadn't bilked you enough the prior two times? The main reason to replace the pulley on the crankshaft is if there is a seperation between the innner and outer portion allowing the "pulley" part to rotate independantly of the inner part. This does happen sometimes, but not as a consequence of throwing a belt. There is a thin rubber interface between the tow parts which can let go. The usual way to diagnose this is to paint a white line across the inner and outer parts and see if the lines stay lined up under operation. (BTW a SAAB OEM Crank pulley only costs $145)

You should know that it is pretty unlikely that these parts would fail like this without any warning. When one of the pulleys is going bad it usually starts to whine quite a while before the bearing siezes. Keeping an ear for what your car sounds like is a good idea (and I suppose turning down the radio now and then to be able to hear it)

Or you could just sell the bothersome SAAB and go buy a nice Chevy or Dodge or something...

-Fred W

Now yer talking Fred. Got my eye on the Chevvy Impala. Hope I dont have to buy it before the weekend is over. The dealer started work on my 9000 at 8AM on Wed and now they tell me it probably wont be ready before quitting time on Monday. Now thats service. Good thing I dont need an engine transplant or a clutch job. I'd have to take out a lease on a new one while they worked on the old gal!.

Ever consider changing dealers? Sounds like this one isn't in the business of keeping customers happy.

Presumably you'll go to a different dealer to buy the Chevy, then?

The "big three" and you've never seen poor quality ? I'm astonished.

They ripped you off then. The upper idler pulley and belt go for about $70 in parts with an hour's labor.

Sorry to hear. It should have been replaced for another $35 in parts.

Ripped off again, I'm estimating.

And you're still buying from that dealer ? You need to buy a clue instead of a belt.