Technical Tightening belt on y block

My fan belt started squealing today on the highway. It only squealed when I got on the gas. I got home, popped off the old Atlas belt and put on a new one. Now, the belt squeals when in Park and when I accelerate.

I kind of did a rush job since it started to rain ( no garage), but I'm pretty sure I need to tighten the belt somehow.

Can anyone recommend how to do this? I played with the bolts on the alt and fan, but its still a little loose. Maybe about a half inch if I push on the belt. Maybe I need to take some steel wool to the pulleys?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Besides the obvious 'get a garage' suggestion

 

Half an inch is OK. Clean the pulleys. Steel wool is fine.

 

Half in deflection, with how much force? it's pretty hard to explain how tight a belt needs to be, but they usually need to be tighter than you think. I found an old Burroughs belt tension gauge at a swap meet years ago...I use it all the time. I cannot get any V belt to sufficient tension without using some type of prying tool. If you are not prying the generator out with a bar then it's probably just too loose. But you don't need a lot of force when you pry, just enough to get the belt tight. I suggest tightening it a bit at a time until it doesn't squeal when you rev the engine.

If there's a squeak at idle, there might be an alignment issue, or something has a dry bearing?

btw the tension gauge is kind of expensive new, but you can find them on ebay. This is a current production of the same tool I have, but mine is decades older.

http://www.amazon.com/OTC-6673-Universal-Tension-Gauge/dp/B000I198J0

 

Agreed, unless you are Popeye or built like him you need a little help tightening a belt.

If you get it tight and it still squeals try a bar of soap on it, with the motor running find a place where you can stick your hand in there with moderate safety and hold a bar of soap against it ( I use dial LOL). It is a very old style of belt dressing.

 

I recently helped a friend with the same problem and we found there were different width belts. Also we found the pulleys to be worn to the point the belt bottomed in the groove which left the sides loose. In the end he had to bite the bullet and buy some new pulleys.

 

besides the usual belt LUBE's (wd spray, soap, etc etc etc)
sometimes a but of sandpaper on the end of a paint stur stick,
made so you do not have yer fingers in there...
might scuff the belt and stop the squeel

 

Yup, there are many things that can go wrong. Tension is the usual culprit, but not the only one.

I've never been a fan of belt dressing...of any kind...a belt just won't make noise if it's set up right.

 

When you get through with all the easy stuff - look for an failure-bearing in alternator/ water pump, etc. Or, even a battery failing can increase alternator load so much it will squeal the belt- been there !!

 

Belt dressing is a backyard way of getting by, poor people have poor ways.

A failing battery can be the culprit of a multitude of problems. It is amazing how many things a new battery can fix.

 

i hardly ever have alternator problems, because I replace batteries every 5 years whether they need it or not. I finally had an alternator go out on my on the way home from Vegas last week...but it was an alternator that I had overhauled many years ago, and used on a couple different vehicles. Fortunately I noticed the symptoms before it died completely, and bought a cheap rebuilt so I had one to install on the side of the road.

 

Did you have a problem before you replaced the generator with an alternator? If not it may be that the alternator has too small of a pulley and takes too much torque to turn it.

Charlie Stephens

 

The OP needs to let us know if he has a generator or alternator and how wide the belt is that he's using. I know he said alt in the post, but if he's actually got a generator and is running the more common skinny belt, I bet that is where his problem lies. Or if it's truly an alternator and is using the wide belt, same thing....pulley size vs belt size.

 

Sorry about the late response. Been super busy at work.

I noticed that the belt is only squealing on start up and whenever the headlights are on. But when I turn on the heater all the way, then turn it off, the squealing stops. But when I drive around with the headlights off, the squealing is gone. I'm guessing it's a battery or alternator problem?

I think I'll try to tighten the belt. Thing is, I have NO IDEA how to do so. I loosened the bolt to the alternator and the bracket below the water pump to install the new belt. I made sure they were on tight afterwards. How would I go about tightening the belt even more?

Thanks again for all the help

 

Here are a couple of pics of the old belt. Hopefully this helps showing the belt width

 

You will need to use a lever - like an axe handle or a tire iron or something and wedge that in the tightening direction after you've loosened the connecting hardware a little up top, and then the bolt on the adjustment bracket.

 

So first, loosen the adjustment bracket and then wedge in a tire iron and retighten? I appreciate your patience.

 

Yep, ya gotta be ambidextrous, and be able to use two hands, too. Generators are heavy, and seem prone to move in the bracket somewhat. Be sure to check now and then.

 

Very nice. I'll definitely try this tomorrow. Thanks again!

 

First off, you have a generator, not an alternator.

Second, it looks to me like you have the lower bracket on upside down. The slotted end needs to bolt to the generator, while the single hole end attaches to the engine. The whole reason for the slot is to allow you to adjust the generator outward to make the belt tighter.

 

Loose the adjustment bolt (where the slot is) a little bit, use the pry bar to gently pull the generator away from the engine which makes the belt tighter, and then tighten the bolt while you're still applying the prying force. Don't pry very hard, just enough to tighten the belt a little bit more than you can get it without the pry bar. If it quits squealing under load, then it's tight enough. Too tight is also bad, it's hard on the bearings, etc.

 

Do you have a generator or alternator? You keep saying alternator but post #14 sure looks like a generator, which is it?

Charlie Stephens

 

Just finished tightening the belt. No more squeal! Loosened the bolt on the bracket, took a metal bar and did as everyone said. I drove it around for a bit and noticed that my temperature gauge is about 10 degrees cooler. Nice.

Thanks again for all the replies and help!

And I guess it is a generator

 

Thanks for reporting back. This is basic stuff we used to learn in freshman auto shop....when these old cars were younger....now you know, too!