cenri belt/belt slip questions

[pacific4v]

So today i was showing a buddy my vortech setup on my car when I noticed my belt was starting to shred on the outside edge and was badly worn on the back side in some spots. If u remember i made a thread about 3 weeks ago about my surcharger pulley grinding into my alternator. That ended up being because the pulley bolt backed out. When i replaced the bolt i inspected the pulley and it seemed to only have very minor damage on the edges. It didn't appear to effect the belt any. The car didn't have any problems for about 3 weeks until i noticed the belt today. I had checked the belt about everyday for a week after i fixed it 3 weeks ago, so i don't think its the vortech pulley doin the damage. Especially since the belt on the engine side is fine, its only shredding on the radiator side of the belt. I checked it out today and i couldn't see where the belt would be rubbing on a pulley or anything else to cause it to wear like that. All the idlers and tensioner pulley look to be turning too. I did notice it felt real doggy today when i hammered on it before i saw the belt like that, i guess because the belt was slipping. Would belt slip only wear the ribs of the belt tho? Could it cause any damage to the back side of the belt? Any ideas? I won't have time to tear it apart and check it out til Thursday so i was wanting to get some input on what to look for.

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

What pulley are you running on the blower?? What size crank?? How many rib setup? I've have horrible luck with Gates belts.. The Gatorback belts is where it's at.. Maybe the pullies are misaligned?

 

[pacific4v]

Its a 3.25 pulley. Stock crank pulley. 6 rib. Im not for sure what kind of belt it is because it came used with my blower kit. I haven't touched any pulley besides the vortech pulley and vortech idler so unless the bracket isn't lined up right i don't see how the pulleys could be out of alignment. Plus I've almost daily driven it with this belt since august and haven't had any belt slip that I've noticed or any other issues.

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

Your belt might have stretched.. Something to think about.

 

[JP_Stang]

I was thinking maybe you had a pulley out of line or something? It could take a while for the belt to actually start showing damage from something like that, or it rubbing against something. Have you used a straight edge to make sure everything is lined up? Just a thought...

 

[pacific4v]

Im gonna try to check it out tomorrow and throw another belt on it if i can find one locally. I was using a 113" belt which is the stock size for the stock pulley but I'm using a 3.25" pulley. Do u guys think that's too big of a belt and possibly slipping? Would a slipping belt overheat and possibly cause the belt to start to come apart? The wear on the back side of the belt indicates a idler or tensioner is seized or something but they all spin when the car is running.

 

[JP_Stang]

Yeah the heat could cause some damage. When you get the belt off to switch it, check the idlers and other pulleys to make sure there isn't any abnormal resistance. It could be possible the bearings are starting to wear and not allowing them spin as freely as they would normally.

As for the belt size, as long as your tensioner still has movement both ways and isn't bottoming out either way, I would think you would be ok?

 

[Erich]

If your pulley moved, it may be out of alignment. If it does ride up on the edge where it is ground, that could do in your belt.
Erich

 

[corysmach1]

Get a new gatorback and check alignmet

 

[Brutal Metal]

The 112.89" 6 rib belt can be used from a 3.6 down to a 3.0, smaller than that I'd switch to the 112" Yeah just try a new one, it got beat up when the bolt fell out..

 

[01yellercobra]

The 112.89" 6 rib belt can be used from a 3.6 down to a 3.0, smaller than that I'd switch to the 112" Yeah just try a new one, it got beat up when the bolt fell out..

+1.

For future reference anytime you have a pulley issue throw a new belt on. Who knows what damage the previous belt may have incurred. Cheap insurance IMO.

 

[pacific4v]

Cool, thanks for the input guys. I've been messing with my daily driver this week so i haven't had a chance to mess with the cobra yet. I'll throw a new belt on it and see what happens.