Guys with centri blowers step inside...belt issues

[96S/Cobra]

I have a 96 Cobra with a Vortech T trim. I have only driven the car a hand full of times in the past several months (since installing the new blower, etc.). I drove the car a month ago, and I would smell something "hot" or "burning." After checking the car out all over, I just drove it again this past weekend, and when I jump on it a bit I realize I smell this smell (I actually realized this afterwords once I put two and two together between spirited driving, then shortly thereafter smelling the smell, etc.). On the way home from work I jumped on it a bit and the belt shredded on me.

Now...what could be the problem? The car has an 8 rib conversion on it, with all new pullies being purchased from Tousley Ford. Each pulley only goes in one place, and only goes on one way. The blower is spaced off the bracket I believe 0.28", which is exactly what it's supposed to be because of the 8 rib conversion. Could the pullies be out of alignment? They "look" to be all perfectly in place/in line.

There was tons of belt dust all over the alternator (so assuming major belt slip). So when I jump on the car and the belt slips, I assume this would eventually cause the belt to "weaken" and shred like it just had done to me? I have a 2.95" high grip pulley from Vortech on the blower. The belt was brand new, with just a few hundred miles on it. The tensioner on the car is brand new as well, but it was also purchased directly from Ford so it isn't one of the expensive aftermarket high tension ones.

Do I need to buy one of the aftermarket tensioners? Do I need to get a 10% overdrive Innovators West balancer and a larger pulley on the blower? I'm brand new to these centri blowers, and having belt issues was my biggest fear, and it seems my fear has become a reality to me anyways. Any and all help would be appreciated.

 

[01yellercobra]

Get a metal straight edge and double check the alignment of every pulley. My alternator pulley looked lined up with my blower, but it was off about a rib width. Once I got everything straight my belt problems went away. Also, how far over is the tensioner? If the belt is too long and the tensioner doesn't have enough throw left it could cause some belt slip.

I would save the IW set up as a last step.

 

[harvboi05]

Get a metal straight edge and double check the alignment of every pulley.

i just posted this in a different thread. worked well for me.

 

[99cobra09]

With that straight edge, how exactly do you measure or realize its not straight? Im having somewhat of this issue but i got a overdrive crank and bigger pulley. I also fixed my powersteering pulley which was sticking out about 1/4 of an inch.

 

[01yellercobra]

With that straight edge, how exactly do you measure or realize its not straight? Im having somewhat of this issue but i got a overdrive crank and bigger pulley. I also fixed my powersteering pulley which was sticking out about 1/4 of an inch.

It won't sit flush. I did it by setting it in one of the rib valleys. When things weren't lined up it wouldn't sit straight in the valley. Once I had things lined up it sat straight in the valley.

 

[96S/Cobra]

Thanks for the info guys. I will try to find a straight edge and see what I come up with. But since they are all oem ford pullies, and they only go on one way, I just don't see how they could be out of allignment, but stranger things have happened I guess.

I feel the belt was not as tight as it should have been. But the problem is that I can't seem to find another 8 rib belt that is any shorter than what I had.

And again, thanks for the info. I just don't want to have to spend hundreds of dollars on an IW balancer, new blower pulley, and aftermarket tensioner. But if that's what needs to be done than so be it.

 

[Hangman]

My dads 96 cobra was having issues with belt shredding and slipping, he went with an innovator west crank and swapped blower pulleys, we tried to work on it but it still had issues, it really has to do with the alignment of the pulleys, the bracket that you are using for the Vortech has to be aligned properly as well, you can use spacers washers or whatever to get the alignment right. My dad just purchased a kit from a company that provides all the bolts with the proper spacing designed for the Vortech brackets, also he is getting a laser alignment tool to check the pulleys as well. I will find out the info on the kit my dad bought and let you know or just have him post in here. And just to add he did have issues with his older t-trim and we are haven issues with the YSI as well.

 

[02SVTV6]

Does the pulley have a side wall at all? Meaning looking at the pulley does it have a lip that comes above the belt or no? That was the reason mine shredded because no lip on the pulley it would keep moving too much. So I solved it with getting a turbo kit.

 

[01yellercobra]

Thanks for the info guys. I will try to find a straight edge and see what I come up with. But since they are all oem ford pullies, and they only go on one way, I just don't see how they could be out of allignment, but stranger things have happened I guess.

I feel the belt was not as tight as it should have been. But the problem is that I can't seem to find another 8 rib belt that is any shorter than what I had.

And again, thanks for the info. I just don't want to have to spend hundreds of dollars on an IW balancer, new blower pulley, and aftermarket tensioner. But if that's what needs to be done than so be it.

Just because they're Ford pullies doesn't mean they're going to be aligned correctly out of the box. You're swapping pullies onto something they weren't designed for. It's going to take some tweaking to get things 100%. It really sounds like you just need to line things up and you'll be fine.

 

[Erich]

Don't assume it should be aligned. I eyeballed the alternator and blower pullies to get alignment. I shim the alternator one. That has worked really well. Look from the passenger side across the two pullies with one eye shut. They need to be really good. If you are shredding like that, it should be something obvious. Also, are the bearings in all your idler pullies (including the tensioner) in good shape? Also, is the tensioner good? I have had good luck with the steel style one from Ford.
Erich

 

[99cobra09]

Which one is the steel style? I didn't know there was 2 kinds.

 

[Erich]

here is a picture

I think it is part xr3z-6b209-db
Erich

 

[Doc GTO]

If you get the IW larger crank pulley then you can go with a bigger blower pulley to get better belt wrap and not loose any boost. Check alignment and you may need a HD tensioner.