Whattaya think?

[jimmyjack]

The other day I was out in the hills tooling around and I noticed my ammeter wasnt registering so I pulled over and my alternator belt had popped off. No sweat, put it back on, cranked down the bolts and I'm on the road again. An hour later the a/c blows hot. I pull over and the a/c belt is gone. Driving home the alternator belts FALLS off again. Everthing is aligned, everything is tight. What gives? These belts are two months old. They're Autozone belts, and I had the last set for 5 years so I hope thats not the problem. Im hoping its just dumb bad luck. But it still doesn't make sense.

creepin' and crawlin'

Jim

 

[CBLAZER81]

Had the same prob a while back.Everything looked good and lined up but was off a little.It doesn't take much mis-alignment to mess up a belt in a short amount of time.As it turns out ,my Alt.bracket was cracked so it was flexing all the time.Might be something to look at.
Just a hint in case you didn't know(took me forever to figure it out)Put a straight edge on the front side of the pulleys,from one pulley to the other.They may look straight but may be off just a bit which can waste a belt real fast at higher RPMs.

Chuck Dirks
81 Blazer
Colorado,USA

 

[Blazer1970]

New belts will stretch, and usually need to be tightenend after a few hundred miles. Hopefully, that was your problem. Maybe you didn't get them real tight to start with.

Tim

1970 Blazer CST 4X4 350 SM465 NP205
1987 Suburban 4X4 350
1988 Chevy Pickup 4X4 350

 

[sosamantx]

I had a fairly/highly torquey motor in my 67 Chevelle and it was common for me to sling my alternator belt every time I jumped on it (my pulleys were misaligned). Which got to be everyday. Anyway someone recommended that I go try a NAPA belt. As it turned out, the belt was skinnier, and it sat down lower in the groove of the pulley. Let's just say that it didn't happen near as often. - Steve

Damn, I do miss that car though.

Steve Sosa a.k.a. "sosaman"
http://sosaman.home.texas.net/carpics.html

 

[jimmyjack]

A buddy talked me into Gates belts and I bought a new alternator bracket. When I was putting to P/S belt on I noticed a ring of rubber on the pulley, I dug around a little and came across a vacuum hose that was cut in half and I think that was the culprit. I'll find out soon enuff. Thanks for the replies.

creepin' and crawlin'

Jim

 

[DMK]

Have noticed the belts autozone sells are thicker and don't sit in the groove corectly. Bought some at pep boys fit was alot better. Mine just made noise, a light squeaking noise at idle.