I am real interested in swapping my 92'RRC 3.9l belts to the 4.0 serpentine belt set up. I've pretty much had it with adjusting the individual belts every month. I've used belt dressing, replaced the belts, got shorter belts and they still slip. I was looking for someone who has done this before to give me some idea of the parts needed and any other info.
3.9l serpentine conversion help
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Looks like the lack of responses has stymied the list members. I've got to admit that I'm puzzled by your reason for wanting to convert. You see, I only adjust belt tension about once a year. I can only assume you either have something leaking onto the belts to make them slip, or perhaps you're just not putting enough tension on the belts to last for the year as the belts wear and relax. Perhaps you would save some money by investing in a belt tension gauge, so you can know how tight to tension the belts. My hunch is that you're not tensioning them tight enough, and they are loose enough to slip and squeal when the engine is running. The older repairs manuals list tensioning specs for the V-belts. (I use the RAVE manuals which only list specs for the serpentine belt... no help at all for my 1989.)
Scott
Scott
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I hace to agree. I can't help but feel your time would be better spent cleaning your pullies of all the stuff you have sprayed on them and getting a new set of belts. DOn't be diheartened when the you have to readjust in a few weeks as the new belts settle in. DOn't forget that all belts are not created equal and cheap flimsy belts are going to stretch fast anf wear quickly.
Do be cautious about over tensioning - this will eventually damage bearings, especially the alternator that we all love, and the water pump.
That being said, you should be able to adjust the belts to be taught enough to not require a monthly adjustment if, as said before me, your pulleys and the belts themselves are in serviceable condition.
On another note; have you closely inspected the tensioner(s)? It is possible your fault is with the tensioner, not the belt.
It would definitely be worth a closer look, since you are apparently under the hood fairly regularly anyways
That being said, you should be able to adjust the belts to be taught enough to not require a monthly adjustment if, as said before me, your pulleys and the belts themselves are in serviceable condition.
On another note; have you closely inspected the tensioner(s)? It is possible your fault is with the tensioner, not the belt.
It would definitely be worth a closer look, since you are apparently under the hood fairly regularly anyways
firstly i change the belts every two years and only need to adjust them when fitting usualy when they start to slip or are noisy then change them.
as for the single drive serp set up you will need a new front cover with the dissy hole not a p38a cover as it does not use a dissy. pas pump, air con pump, alternator, and the brackets and bolts easy job just hard trying to find all the parts at the right price
as for the single drive serp set up you will need a new front cover with the dissy hole not a p38a cover as it does not use a dissy. pas pump, air con pump, alternator, and the brackets and bolts easy job just hard trying to find all the parts at the right price
I know it sounds strange, I myself am stumped. I tension the belt using the parameters set in the shop manual. I don't have a tension gauge so its by stretch. The problem is the power steering belt and alt. belt. I get them tight and within a month the power steering belt is flapping and the alt. is no longer sending an accurate tach. reading due to the belt slipping. These are all new belts of a different brand than the previous. I tried to tighten the alt. belt more but it snapped, taking my alt. bearing with it. New belts/alt. later same stuff new day. I was hoping not to have to change the pump setup just convert to serpentine pullys plus a tentioner. What brand is a "quality" belt? Anybody want to sell powersteering and alt. pullys for 3.9l?
That is odd. Are you tightening all three fixings for the power steering pump and the alternator, or just the adjuster nut? If you tighten only the adjuster and leave the pivot bolts loose then all the strain of holding tension is absorbed on the adjuster bolt and its link, and it can slide loose more easily. But you probably tighten both pivot bolts and the adjuster bolt already, so it's probably a moot question.
Slippage of the power steering belt can slow the alternator even when the alternator belt is properly tensioned and transmitting rotation just fine. Do you have a power steering pump leak, or a coolant leak that sprays back on the power steering belt to make it slip?
I've had good luck with Gates belts, and many other brands. Come to think of it, I've never really had a bad belt yet. The closest I've come is a lawn tractor deck belt that shreaded after two summers of mowing, but they were two long summers of mowing.
Scott
Slippage of the power steering belt can slow the alternator even when the alternator belt is properly tensioned and transmitting rotation just fine. Do you have a power steering pump leak, or a coolant leak that sprays back on the power steering belt to make it slip?
I've had good luck with Gates belts, and many other brands. Come to think of it, I've never really had a bad belt yet. The closest I've come is a lawn tractor deck belt that shreaded after two summers of mowing, but they were two long summers of mowing.
Scott
I do tighten all the connects to the alt./powerstr. What is weird is that there is a reinforcing brace from the powerstr. brackets to the alt. This brace cuts off the adjustment for the power steering. I cant really get it but so tight b/c the pump is against the brace. At this point its only halfway across its total adjustment perameters and barely tight enough with a new belt. My RR was born on 12/91 and seems to have a mixbag of a factory setup. Can I take the brace off? I think this is the root of the problem. Also the belts I've been getting have much less depth than the original old style. I've asked the parts people about this and they say it will work fine. It's not working fine, though I admit I havent seen the thick old style in many years.
I know that brace very well, but it doesn't foul my power steering pump. I've had to turn the power steering hose ends a few degrees to allow me to push my pump in so I can get its belt off, but I have plenty of freedom to move the pump out to the end of its adjustment travel without fouling that diagonal brace.
That alternator brace isn't symmetrical, and it can't go in either way. If the power steering pump weren't there, it probably could go in either way, but it is offset to run around the back of the power steering pump. Take it out, adjust your power steering pump's belt tension, then put the brace back in. You'll see that it fits one way and not the other. Putting it in backward is easy to do. I did that myself while converting to my "new" Bosch alternator. Honestly, that brace looks slightly superfluous, but I can see that it might help prevent the alternator bracket from racking out of alignment under tension.
Good luck,
Scott
That alternator brace isn't symmetrical, and it can't go in either way. If the power steering pump weren't there, it probably could go in either way, but it is offset to run around the back of the power steering pump. Take it out, adjust your power steering pump's belt tension, then put the brace back in. You'll see that it fits one way and not the other. Putting it in backward is easy to do. I did that myself while converting to my "new" Bosch alternator. Honestly, that brace looks slightly superfluous, but I can see that it might help prevent the alternator bracket from racking out of alignment under tension.
Good luck,
Scott
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