Both drive belts just fell off

Took me about 3 hours to put both belts back on, the alternator wouldn’t move and then the AC/PAS belt was so fiddly I couldn’t get enough slack on the tensioner, but it all went back and tensioned.

Before I even started the engine I could see the problem, the crank pulley was lopsided, actually it is loose so the rubber Cush drive has definitely gone. As it was about 7:30 pm by now I decided I had nothing to loose so started the engine, both belts jumped off straight away.

Still at least I know what is wrong (thanks for the pulley suggestion guys) and replacing the belts will be much faster next time.

The belts I took off look okay, but they are getting replaced with the crank pulley rubber, just to be on the safe side.

I will try and post a picture of the pulley, but it doesn’t always work from my iPad.

Pictures of the crank pulley, hopefully.



You can see how it is very lopsided.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone, this is a great site for practical help, it gives me confidence to tackle jobs without a workshop manual.

Cheers

Robin

As they say "there's your problem"
Thanks for picture, have never seen a failed pulley, only been told they exist.
Good call on the new belts, prior to jumping off the pulley would have been giving them hell, usually the belts just snap.
Good work.

My new pulley arrived, 3 days late, it should have been here on Friday, but I eventually got it late Monday afternoon. Unfortunately with the additional trips back and forth to the delivery depot it is damaged.



Since I had to get the car going again, I contacted the supplier, said I was going to dress them with a file and then sort it out later. Unfortunately, they didn't dress very well, the metal which was folded over just cracked and I had to file away more material than I wanted. The new pulley is on and working, but it will have to be replaced for another one in a few days time.

Still I have now got the hang of this job, I borrowed an idea from another post on here to get the pulley off, a metal bar bolted to the pulley with two M8 bolts and then jammed to the side of the car with a block of wood. Actually my drive slopes, so with the car in 5th and let the hand brake off slightly the car's weight pushed the bar in to the wood, then with the car in gear, the pulley was very solid and the nut came off with a breaker bar.



To release the pulley from the shaft the same bar was used this time just tighten the two M8 nuts with it pressing against the flange of the pulley nut, this pops the pulley off the shaft really nicely.

Then to put the new pulley on, just reverse the wood, this time there was no need to put the car in gear.

Nice one Doc. Special tools, Bah. Some of these tricks were taught once upon a time. Chris

Thanks Chris,

The wood came off an old fence I have just replaced, definately keeping this bit now.

If you like home made tools and jigs, what about this belt tension gauge, it is made from two pieces of aluminium bolted together so they can slide. The is a notch for the belt and a [rough] scale at the other.

Just use two hands to move the belt up and down, keeping one part steady and see how much the gauge moves.