the other day my car threw one.......so no big deal..i get a new one and put it on......first thing i notice is that this belt is WAY shorter than the other but i told them my car and my accessories so i figured i got the right one..........well a couple of days later the belt starts to squeal....so i turn off the car and the inside of the belt......side facing motor...is hot and sticky.....i remember the guy at autozone saying that they ran out of the best quality belts and mine is kinda bad, so i go and get another belt from a different autozone.....well i get the good one and now tonight it threw it.....i looked at the belt and it was kinda chewed up on the edges.....what could be causing this and how do i fix it?


thanks

 

you need to reduce the size of the pic in your sig. you have an alignment problem making you belts come off, or a problem with the tensioner.

 

Your alternator isn't in line with the crank pulley. You need to figure out which end it is at (Crank pulley not seated fully or alt not bolted in correctly.)

 

...or there could be a nick in one of the pulleys. That would explain the chewing...

 

Or one of the sheaves could be worn. Are they aluminum? They only seem to last a few years before deforming.

 

Sounds to me like you have an accessory, either the alternator or the water pump or the smog pump, that is just about completely unable to turn.

 

whoa......such a variety of causes.....


ok alignment....i will try and check that


sheaves?? whats that?

my smog pump isnt hooked up to this belt and yes it did already lock up a while ago.....i replaced the water pump a year ago....and the alternator i dunno if its locking up or not......it doesnt squeal....

i'll check for nicks....


and i'll work on making a new sig that is more efficient....

 

Yeah, check to see if all the acc. turn freely, even the almost new water pump, and check for worn pulleys, the sides of the v in the pulley should be straight and not have any uneven wear, that can cause belts to bottom out on the pulley and melt quickly because if the sides of the belt doesn't grip like it should then it's just the bottom of the belt makes contact, that will cause slipping.

 

He should have a rib belt.

 

84 has V-belts, not ribbed.

 

My 77 malibu used to do the same thing. Turned out to be the main puly off of the crank thanks to the harmonic balencer was not fully seated. Definatly an alignment problem.

 

Odd, a friend had an 84 Z with a ribbed belt on the alt., thats how he bought it in 85. All the rest were V belts, just like in 85.

 

how do i check to see if my harmonic balancer is loose?....take off the belts and push and pull it or what??

 

mattw

when I bought my 84 new and changed belts, it did the same thing twice, the reason according to pontiac was on cars with the 94 amp alternator used a wider belt than the lower output alternator cars, if you are using a low output alternator belt on a 94 amp alternator, the belt will be recessed into the alternator pulley, if it's the correct belt it will sit flush with the top of the pulley, GM did this most likely due to the fact of the HO's higher rpm capabilty than the LG-4

 

oh so if i have a H.O i have the 94 amp alternator.......cuz yah they asked me what i had and i had no clue so i was like umm stock LOL


but yah it doesnt site flat at the top it sits down low in the pulley..........

 

Matt

try the 94 amp belt and Im sure your problem will be solved, if not do what I did and convert to serpentine belt drive, did this on my LG-4 82 trans am and love it. ........ if you had a factory HO you'll have the 7th digit vin letter G

 

yea ok...i will check that out tomorrow

thanks

and i may switch over to serpentine but i dunno cuz im HOPEFULLY gonna b dropping in a Vortec 355 this summer

 

Not trying to change the subject but How long have you owned your TA?I'm also from Indiana and I traded one off a couple years ago that looks like yours and also had the B&M shifter and Hooker exhaust on it.

 

sorry to say but you are no the previous owner of my car....i bought it off of the original owners and they had it STOCK...i added the exhaust and shifter.......and MANY other little things


too bad you got rid of yours though.....dont see too many of them around here

 

you could find a 86-87 lg4 non serpentine belt car and grab the pullies off that...my car has this constant belt tossing issue above 6000rpms...i got the forementioned pullies with the 5 rib pullies for the alternator and it cured the trouble..

 

well it seemed like the alignment was off a little so jamed a washer behind the bracket to push the alternator back some and i think it fixed the problem....if this doesnt work then i will try one of the plans you guys told me.....thanks