alternator belt failures

[scott miller]

Check pulley alignment, visually should be adequate.  The belt should feed 
straight from pulley to pulley without bending sideways.

With the belt off, check the pulleys spin freely - no binding, dents, chips, 
or out of round from overly enthusiastic prybar application.

Is anything dripping on the belt or pulley?  Hydraulic oil drips on mine a 
bit.  Clean the oil up, sometimes dripping liquid soap on the wear surface 
of the belt cleans it pretty well (and splatters all over).

Correct belt, tensioned properly.  “Toothed” V-belts seem to grip better and 
dissipate heat better, wear slightly faster, make more noise.

Belt dressing helps keep the belt soft and grippy, available at hardware 
stores.

I’m no expert, but used to change hundreds of belts in my summer job 
maintaining HVAC in several factories.  Became a mech. Engineer and lost all 
such common sense skills!  HTH

Scott Miller
’90 200tqw
Holland, MI


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