Unexpected learning experience

[Hedgehog]

On my Formerly '82 Wagoneer 360 I noticed at least one more pulley than I'd normally expect. The answer came when getting new belts. One belt is actually two belts. Unfortunately buying two of he same belts has proven that all belts are not made the same. I haven't gotten two belts tight at the same time, one is ALWAYS longer then the other. Now I've learned something, come to find out a MATCHED set of belts is required. Where on earth do are MATCHED belt sets available?

Michael

 

[Purple77CJ7]

Were ever you are buying belts, tell them you need a matched set of belts. They should have them or can order them in for you. Most auto parts have them.

 

[Peanut Butter]

I'd try some place like NAPA, and check the belts before leaving to get two that are the same size. I've not seen this setup before. Do yu have a picture you can post? Rod

 

[Hedgehog]

Okay pictures:

This is my jeep, as you can see there is a lot going on, at least for me.





Notice I'm not quite done,






Really close from the drivers side,



Annnnddd the other side




The one remaining pulley on the fan/drive stacked pulleys go to the power steering. The extra pulley on the power steering goes to the Air Pump. If yo look closely you can see the inner belt is not tight.

 

[Hedgehog]

Sometimes I simply don't understand parts people. After making it perfectly clear why I needed a "matched set" of belts the following happened. Autozone gave me a belt and had another brought in from another store. One belt fit and the other didn't come close. Come to find out one belt was the right one, the other should have been right but was the wrong one for the box/sleeve. At O' Reiley (sp, fomerly Checker) the counter guy gae me two belts. You guessed it, they didn't work either since these "matching belts" were from different manufacturers and apparently different sizes. I will defend these guys a little, all except the one in the wrong box would have fit if they were on a single set of pulleys. Evidently the parts guys can pick a number of belts that will fit the application. I finally went to the local serious auto mechanic store Merle's. They said their distributor no longer sold "matched sets", but they made sure the two belts were from the same lot number. They (Merle's) were right, the belts fit not only the pulley set, but each other. This took much longer than expected, I did learn about belts though.

 

[Peanut Butter]

Makes sense now. The reason for two belts is the addition of the York compressor. This thing pulls a good bit when the clutch is engauged. With out a seperate tensioner the alternator is the only way to provide tension. I would look into a sepentine belt system for this. It might be better in the long run. If you ever remove the compressor you could get away with only one belt. Rod

 

[Hedgehog]

Rod - I have looked into the serpentine belt system, expensive but I think it would be worth it. However, they don't make one that includes the emissions air pump. Unfortunately the first thing the emissions guys look for is the air pump. I remember when everybody hated the serpentine belt systems on modern cars. "one breaks and your in big trouble." they said. I have found that the one that breaks or is showing signs of failure is the deepest one in the pulley. Serpentine belts are easy to replace. Pull the tension pulley away, remove the belt. Then reverse the procedure. in an off road situation it's easier to carry one belt than it is 4 or 5. Also, with the Kevlar belts they almost never break.

 

[Peanut Butter]

I didn't think about the air pump. All of the vehicles I've ever had with one, the darn thing was froze up. I've never seen any reall information on them, how much air do the push/pull for the exhaust? A replacement must be real expensive by now. Rod

 

[Hedgehog]

I can't put a number to the volume, but I ws surprised at the amount of air the thing blows at idle.