I keep shredding serpentine belts

[Spooln1]

Like the topic says. I've replaced 2 this last month with very little seat time. The long and short of it is that my tensioner pulley comes into contact with my air conditioner compressor pulley and in turn shreds the belt. The pullies are a little offset to eachother so it shreds the belt in strands. It seems to only happen when the car is warm and I've been cruising a little while.

Question is: Is my belt tensioner done or is this an issue of a belt that is too long?

Thanks in advance. Have a great Monday.

Neil

 

[EVIL]

If the pulleys do not line up there is a problem somewhere. a missing bolt, maybe something is about to let go.

With the car off you need to get in there and see if anything moves or is loose. also with your fingers check to see that all bolts are in place.

D

 

[Spooln1]

I'll check tonight. How many bolts should the tensioner have?

 

[QwikStop]

You wanna take the belt off and check each pulley for play or abnormal wear...you said the tensioner pulley makes contact with the a/c pulley then the belt is either too long or you have a worn bearing in one of the pulleys....possibly something coming loose also like stated above.

Make sure the engine is off when doing this , had to add that, lol

 

[GerrywithaG]

not sure about everything else involved, but what belt are you using? i've noticed that the -040 which is what is called for is a little bit too long. ended up using -037 and it fits perfect.

 

[XXQUICK6XX]

Pry too long of a belt.

 

[turbo nasty]

I ran into this building my current motor, had to space out the crank for the crank reluctor to clear the front cover. And had to space the rest of the accesories out to match for belt alignment. I have the champion bracket tho.

 

[Spooln1]

The last belt I used was a Gates Part # K060640
its a 64.630 inch or 1642 mm belt.

Does that length seem right? Purchased from Oreilly auto

The last belt on the car when I bought it must have been wrong because when I put this one on my power steering worked beautifully compared to before.

 

[earlbrown]

I don't recall the exact length but the one you want is for a TTA (or take the GN part number and subtract 5 from the end of it)

 

[GNRick]

Do a search for Gates belt and several threads come up with part numbers.

 

[TurboTnZ06]

The best quiet belt (non-squeaking) is the goodyear gatorback. Check for loose things, my power steering pump was loose (I forgot to tighten it) and it tore up a belt.

 

[earlbrown]

I do like those Gatorbacks. They have a slight whistle like a blower belt.

 

[scgnx2]

The best quiet belt (non-squeaking) is the goodyear gatorback. Check for loose things, my power steering pump was loose (I forgot to tighten it) and it tore up a belt.

I shredded a few belts before I discovered the AC compressor was loose. The AC unit would rotate under load and derail the belt over the crank pulleys lip and cut it up..

 

[turbov6man]

Last 3 numbers should be 635 not 640.


Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

 

[V6POWER]

I found this info posted by other members:
pacecarta

09-06-2010 04:27 PM​

don't buy the 64" (640 listed in part #) which most parts store list as being correct for the buick 3.8 vin 7 , its too long and will ride right at the limit of the tensioner after only a few miles
go with the 63.5 inch belt , it's 1/2 " shorter than the "correct belt"
you can look it up under 89 turbo trans am 3.8L turbo
635k6
5060635

of the belts available the goodyear gatorback is by far the best



Rich Gio

December 29th, 2010 10:01 AM​

I used GATES Part # K060630 and it fit perfect. Some guys are using a 635 belt which is a half inch shorter. The recommended belt (640) is too long in my experience. After it stretches a bit the tensioner "bottoms out" and does nothing.

 

[John Larkin]

Kelly Springfield 635K6 is mine, works well.

 

[earlbrown]

That's is. And what's really cool is the 635 is a lot cheaper than the 'correct' 640.

 

[haywire4130]

+1 on the '635 belt but while youre in there, with the belt removed obviously check your pulley bearings and also check for any fore and aft play in the tensioner. Its only staked together with nylon thrust bushings where it pivots. They can get jiggly and cause the belt to derail. I had every belt problem listed above and ruined a perfect hood liner and a few ats pigtails before I got it sorted out the shorter gatorback belt, fresh tensioner, and correctly aligned ac bypass pulley did the trick.