Monty

Has anyone had any issues with the serpentine belt running crooked? I changed my old belt yesterday which had been running one groove off of the ac compressor. The new one now makes a squeeking and clattering noise. I pulled the belt tensioner off thinking that it was the problem. Visual inspection showed that the pulley had a slight slope to it. So, I turned the pulley over half a turn and tried that. It was now rubbing on the tensioner.

It looks to me as though the compressor clutch/ pulley is sticking to far out and causing the belt to run crooked on the tensioner. You could also watch the old belt with the engine running and one groove would run off the backside of the a/c pulley. The compressor pulley has no sloppiness in it. It just seems as though it is to far forward. Has anyone run into this problem or have any ideas on how to correct it? The water pump is brand new, so no sloppiness there.

wannadiesel

I don't have a solution for you, but you aren't alone. The '96 Ford (with Cummins 6BTA) at work has the same problem, the belt walks back towards the engine and gets chewed up by the alternator. I noticed the same thing about the A/C compressor on that truck, I checked everything for wobble, all seems fine. The shop that does our maintenance is going to throw a tensioner at it RSN, I'll let you know what happens.

Rick D

Guys,<br>when my truck was doing this it was the water pump, no leaks but the bushing was worn and causing the pulley to run tilted running the belt off of the ac pulley and cuting it up one groove at a time ............. Rick D

Monty

Rick, you are probably right about the water pump. I changed mine out about 4 months ago but never really paid much attention after that to see if the belt was still running off the pulley crooked. But, since the new serpentine belt was put on, it shows no sign of running one groove off anymore. It just makes a squeeking/rattling noise at idle.

TurboAZ

The belt tensioner can be a problem. The spring can relax and cause the belt to ride off, the bearing on the roller goes bad and the roller itself can wear because it plastic. There is a steel roller available with changable bearings from ?.<br><br>I changed my tensioner out a few years ago because of the belt starting to ride over a little. New one from cummins fixed it up. Cost is around $95.00. Part number: 3935819.<br><br>Jim

Bob Beauchaine

One of your pulleys is off - the first one I would check is the tensioner it is constantly moving up and down to keep the right belt tension. I have found that by looking at all the pulleys from both sides you can usually tell which one is not lined up with the rest. <br>Bob

Redleg

See if the tensioner has any in/out (lateral) play, if so replace it.

wannadiesel

[quote author=wannadiesel link=board=9;threadid=17568;start=0#msg164527 date=1059308652]
I don't have a solution for you, but you aren't alone. The '96 Ford (with Cummins 6BTA) at work has the same problem, the belt walks back towards the engine and gets chewed up by the alternator. I noticed the same thing about the A/C compressor on that truck, I checked everything for wobble, all seems fine. The shop that does our maintenance is going to throw a tensioner at it RSN, I'll let you know what happens.
[/quote]Tensioner seems to have fixed it, it ran Monday and today and the belt is still where it should be.