BELT TENSION! I have the belt on and routed..

[TechnoLoGs]

Howdy. I am in the parking lot, nose of the F150 up to the S10. The cylinders freed up today, and the new gasket is on. There appears to be a lot of oil in the crankcase, so he did replace the oil. I have a new oil filter ready to go, and the serpentine was off of the motor. Upon further inspection, the old belt was one rib off, and had torn.

I am now having the belt properly routed, but I do not know how to get tension on there. The engine in question is a 1993 Chevrolet 4.3 V6, and it has AC. They sold me the belt for WITH an air pup, and if that is the problem right there then please stop me and direct me to go get the smaller belt, as that would explain why this belt is too large. However, if I am not properly tensioning it, please advise me as well.

Momentary pause in this (car won't start without the belt) until I hear back. Thanks.

 

[yonyon]

I think you're supposed to have a spring loaded tensioner on that truck. You should have had to use a tool (such as a wrench) to hold the tensioner in the slack position to slip the belt onto the last pulley (I recommend the tensioner itself or the WP) so to apply tension, just let go of your tool.

 

[TechnoLoGs]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
I think you're supposed to have a spring loaded tensioner on that truck. You should have had to use a tool (such as a wrench) to hold the tensioner in the slack position to slip the belt onto the last pulley (I recommend the tensioner itself or the WP) so to apply tension, just let go of your tool.


Thank you! It is spring-loaded; this confirms that I need the belt that does not slip over an air pump pulley. They even steered me towards getting the one that did. This answers my question. Thank you.

Pic dump

 

[yonyon]

It looks like you have the belt on top of the tensioner pulley. It should be under the pulley. All smooth pulleys contact the smooth side of the belt. Pull your tensioner tool, then push the belt (between A/C and alternator) down so it fits under the tensioner pulley, then release. See if that makes a difference.

 

[dernp]

That is called the idler pulley and I believe on your truck is is released using a 3/8 socket. Very simple.

 

[2oldtommy]

Is there a sticker showing the proper path of the belt on the underside of the hood? Or, Can you access a repair manual to determine the placement. FWIW--Oldtommy

 

[oldhp]

The idler pulley is between the AC and water pump, see it?
The above post is correct, you have the belt on top of tensioner pulley, it goes below it. Also, From your pics I don't see a air pump. Do you have old belt? Serpentine belts are measured by O.D. of belt.

 

[yonyon]

GIS finds a diagram here:

#26 is the part where your picture doesn't follow the diagram. The tensioner pulley, which is #26, pushes the belt down so that it is tight.

 

[Chris142]

I agree with everybody else. The belt goes under the adjusting pully. Its flat. If it had grooves then the grooved side of the belt would run on it but it's not.

 

[TechnoLoGs]

Hey all.. I got it. it was the wrong belt. Dayco Poly Rib 5060955 did the trick.

Will read replies later, I got two of the finished product.

Now, this is the one with the seized up pistons, so who wants to see it start up? If nobody does then that is fine.

Getting pics now

 

[TechnoLoGs]

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: TechnoLoGs
Hey all.. I got it. it was the wrong belt. Dayco Poly Rib 5060955 did the trick.

Will read replies later, I got two of the finished product.

Now, this is the one with the seized up pistons, so who wants to see it start up? If nobody does then that is fine.

Getting pics now


I'd definitely like to see it. The only "previously seized" engine I've ever started was a slant six and it really didn't seem too happy about it. Hopefully your Chevy will be in a better mood.

 

[yonyon]

Once you get her running it might be a good idea to do something about that bent fan blade.

 

[TechnoLoGs]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: TechnoLoGs
Hey all.. I got it. it was the wrong belt. Dayco Poly Rib 5060955 did the trick.

Will read replies later, I got two of the finished product.

Now, this is the one with the seized up pistons, so who wants to see it start up? If nobody does then that is fine.

Getting pics now


I'd definitely like to see it. The only "previously seized" engine I've ever started was a slant six and it really didn't seem too happy about it. Hopefully your Chevy will be in a better mood.


The fun continues..................

The guy left the battery connected, and it turns out there is a parasitic drain. So, we go to start it.. and there is a dead battery.

Will post back tomorrow.

btw: It makes some sort of "air pop" sound. Not sure what it is.

I want to see what this thing does................................................

Oh, and this was the oil filter, as I put on a fresh one. This was the old.

Letting it sit, until tomorrow.

I ain't giving up.

 

[eljefino]

So your mechanic did the head gasket but is letting you put the belt back on?

Weird.

 

[babyivan]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
So your mechanic did the head gasket but is letting you put the belt back on?

Weird.
Everything about this guy is weird, lol

 

[TechnoLoGs]

Originally Posted By: babyivan
Originally Posted By: eljefino
So your mechanic did the head gasket but is letting you put the belt back on?

Weird.
Everything about this guy is weird, lol


Yes. This is what happened...

FWIW, I got stranded on the road in the S-10. Had to hoof it back to my F-150.

I let the mechanic know, point-blank, that I needed the cheapest way out. Found on Craigslist and texted him and we negotiated a price of $450. Very laid back and I said that I would assist. I then drove the limping, badly overheating S10 around, using it as little as possible. At one point, it developed such low compression that I had to floor the gas to get it to run at a low and rough idle, and it would not even move backwards without stalling. I got it back up to speed with a quarter bottle of a stop leak. I spent quite a bit on stop leaks, thinking they would hold And, to various effects, they did. At one point my exhaust looked like a faucet left on low, and brown mud-looking oil leaked all over local Walmart parking lot in an early morning run, since my schedule is upside-down backwards.

Moving on... I got the truck to the guy. There were snap-crackle-popping noises from the VC area. I had felt loss of power, but it was cutting in and out.. I really came within 10 minutes of seizing my whole entire engine. It really had to push to get me to the place he was based out of. I explained my plight, that I had to walk 4 miles back, was in the middle of a lot of things, etc. He stuck to his $450 price which, for the work, is more than fair. I go home.

The next day, he texts me and says "Two pistons are locked up." I then read about the Aerokroil, soak approaches, etc, and 3;b hammer approach.

He texted me back and let me know that he had PB in there and that yes he would try to get them freed.

He texted me this morning, and said he wanted $200 and that the keys were in. He also changed out my distributor. Methinks that has something to do with it, since the last time I tightened my distributor on that thing all the way down, it wouldnt start.....

It is all about willpower now. I fully expect a stubborn, hard start, with all the fluid mixing that happened - did you see that oil filter??????? - And that jump is coming from my F150.

So, where do you think this whole thing is at? Is the parasitic drain angle thrown in for extra fun?

 

[Chris142]

Why is it so full of water?

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: TechnoLoGs

btw: It makes some sort of "air pop" sound. Not sure what it is.


That's okay. You may just have the inition time way our or the wires crossed or something. That will be another little thing to straighten out.

 

[TechnoLoGs]

Originally Posted By: babyivan
Originally Posted By: eljefino
So your mechanic did the head gasket but is letting you put the belt back on?

Weird.
Everything about this guy is weird, lol


My replies were timing out at dinner. I am on better network connection now.

I think the mechanic took the belt off to keep me from simply driving away a "fixed" vehicle without paying, since his shop closed at 11AM and he chose to leave the keys. Think about it, there would be absolutely nothing stopping me.

AND the belt WAS cracked along a rib; the reason citing that it should be replaced. So, I may assume that he wanted to help me along.. the guy just un-seized two pistons, and changed the spark plugs on them with what I provided. The distributor cap and rotor, too, so that may be at play here, since when I tightened my all the way do tight the truck woudlnt start............

Though after hammering on pistons for a day, letting PB and oils soak, etc etc.. to be concerned about the belt? The biggest question, after doing the gaskets and OFFERING to resurface the head though I was short on that cash, is that was he being a GOOD mechanic by saying to change the belt?? Or, a bad one for not putting it back on, and leaving it with a parasitic drain that has me going back for Part 7 or so............