I think I know the answer, but I have a fresh 'the Mercury flatty build and out about 20 miles on it so far. Tonight one of the belts started to squeak at idle. I assume they are just settling I and need a bit of tightening? I have about 1/2" play in the crank/fan belt and about 3/4" play in the gen/water pump belt. What should the play be in both? Should they be the same and what is that? Thanks!
Try squirting a little WD-40 on the fan hub bushing. It may not be a belt squeaking. The play you have in your belts sounds okay to me.
Your "play" sounds reasonable. Spray on some belt dressing and make sure the belts are not riding in the bottom of the pulley. Only the sides of the belt should contact the pulley sheave.
The old rule was you should be able to deflect the belt in the middle of its run by 3/4" with moderate thumb pressure. Do not pull them as tight as you would with an alternator, the plain bearings won't stand it.
Yeah I thought the belts were about right but all the sudden I'm getting the squeak. I put a few drops of oil in the little flip up oil flap on the fan shaft and ran the engine but to no avail. What does the belt dressing do? Give more grip?
Belt dressing will take away any belt squeak. Then you'll know if that's the issue. It's not unusual for either a water pump or fan to have a worn bushing or bearing.
belt dressing softens and makes the belt grip better if there is any glaze on it , also any dried rust on the belt will make it squeak too .
I've had the rear bushing on the generator make a racket. Now every third or fourth time I check the oil I flip the bushing oiler open and give it some runoff from the dipstick. And yeah, your belt tension sounds right on.
Ok so I guess I will try some belt dressing and see it it goes away. If it does then it's the belt right? If it doesn't then I'm looking g at a bushing issue in wp or fan? That will suck if it's a water pump as these are brand new!! The fan is original so that could be the issue?
Ok I just oiled the generator bushing oiler. I also just noticed the pulleys are all painted. As I mentioned the engine is a fresh build and with paint on the pulleys, could this be causing some slip? If so, do I just let it wear off naturally or help it along?
That shouldn't be a problem. If anything the paint might give better grip until it wears away naturally. Did you try WD-40 on the fan shaft bushing?
UPDATE......This morning I tried to eliminate things. I lubricated the oilers on the generator and fan hub and that did not fix things. Next I tightened the belts just a bit to see if maybe that was it, nope! So then I REMOVED the belt controlling the water pumps and generator. No change. Put that belt back on and then removed the fan to crank belt.....poof, no more squeak! The engine is all fresh with new everything (including water pumps) the generator has been professionally rebuilt, but the fan hub is the only thing I never did anything with. Not sure what year it is from but I expect it has never had anything done to it since original. So at this point I would say the hub bushing/bearing is the problem?? Anyone know how these work inside and what I need to replace?
That's a truck fan. A '49 car wide belt fan is a simpler design but I think the one you have can reworked. I have one of those and if I remember right there's a way to oil them. Take the screw shown in the third picture out and fill it with oil. It's probably dry.
Oil should have leaked out, when you sat with the fan face down, there should be a plug/screw to add oil, doesn't take much. Check on www.vanpeltsales.com to see if Mac has the fill procedure listed, if not send him an email through the site, real nice guy. Something tells me the bearing/bushing in there is hard to come by.
Van Pelts has the parts to rebuild that type hub. Just be sure to not over oil it, as it makes a mess of your engine compartment. And back to the subject of belt tightness, be careful not to over tighten fan belt. I had a loose waterpump belt and just raised the generator mount without loosening the fan mount. Well it must have made the fan tighter than hell because this happened!
Budget36 - you nailed the problem! I checked the Vanpelt web site on the fan and it appears that I did not have enough oil in the fan hub! It took a full 2.5 oz of 80-90w gear oil as they recommend. Filled it as per the procedure and bingo.....no more squeak! Thanks brother. Not only did I fix it myself, but spent zero $$ and learned something in the process. Thank you my friend!
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