Blower Belt Walking

JD1964 · Nov 22, 2015

The belt at the blower pulley is walking forward one grove. Still drives fine but I dont like this. I followed all instructions installing the V3 kit. I did go to a larger crank pulley and had to buy a new belt. The kit came with a Goodyear Gatorback belt. The replacement I got was a Dayco. Maybe that's the issue. The belt is tight enough but still flops around a bit, even at idle. Maybe it's just crappy belt. I have a Gatorback on the way. Other than checking alignment and such, what things can I look to for a solution? I'm not crazy about the plastic tensioner that came with the kit.

mikestang63 · Nov 22, 2015

get a gatorback belt. Dayco's are crap. DId you take a straightedge to the puleys to see they are aligned proper?

JD1964 · Nov 22, 2015

mikestang63 said:
get a gatorback belt. Dayco's are crap. DId you take a straightedge to the puleys to see they are aligned proper?

I have a Gatorback on the way.

I don't see how I'd be able to use a straight edge. The crank pulley is 8 rib and the blower is a 6 rib. Not only that but there's no room between the crank pulley and rad fan to even put a straight edge.

JD1964 · Nov 22, 2015

....and, there's only two groved pulleys in this issue. The crank and the blower. So without a third groved pulley in the run for a point of reference, how would a straight edge give an accurate measurement?

jwog666 · Nov 23, 2015

John Dirks Jr said:
he crank pulley is 8 rib and the blower is a 6 rib.

there is your problem, you either have to run all 8 rib, or all 6 rib pulleys, not a mix match of both.

FoxMustangLvr · Nov 23, 2015

John Dirks Jr said:
I have a Gatorback on the way.

I don't see how I'd be able to use a straight edge. The crank pulley is 8 rib and the blower is a 6 rib. Not only that but there's no room between the crank pulley and rad fan to even put a straight edge.

How did you align the 6 rib and the 8 rib pulleys? Are you not wanting to void the blower warranty by removing and upgrading the pulley to 8 rib?

84Ttop · Nov 23, 2015

I've seen plenty of guys run the 8 rib lower pulley with a 6 rib blower pulley without issue. This will not void the warranty on the blower either as the blower pulley has not been removed.
1 of two things come to mind, The belt is too loose or there is an alignment problem. If the balancer has been off the motor before, ensure that it is seated all the way on the crank. I have in the past had to shim the blower to get everything to line up as well. With the variation between cylinder heads (this is what the blower mounts to) there is always the chance of misalignment. The kit is "designed" to work with "stock" cylinder heads and even the ford factory will have some variation on the end dimension of their cylinder heads. What you are experiencing is not totally out of the norm, just needs a bit of fine tuning to get it 110%

hoopty5.0 · Nov 23, 2015

John Dirks Jr said:
....and, there's only two groved pulleys in this issue. The crank and the blower. So without a third groved pulley in the run for a point of reference, how would a straight edge give an accurate measurement?

This gave me a chuckle. Are you an engineer or other math-related type? I had a flash back to college as I read that.

JD1964 · Nov 23, 2015

FoxMustangLvr said:
How did you align the 6 rib and the 8 rib pulleys? Are you not wanting to void the blower warranty by removing and upgrading the pulley to 8 rib?

The way I understand it to be is the 8 rib crank pulley just adds 2 ribs on the forward edge. So, the inner 6 crank pulley ribs is supposed to line up with the 6 rib blower pulley.

JD1964 · Nov 23, 2015

hoopty5.0 said:
This gave me a chuckle. Are you an engineer or other math-related type? I had a flash back to college as I read that.

I'll take that as a compliment, thanks. Not an engineer but part of my income involves describing problems with mechanical, structural, electrical, etc.... in written reports.

JD1964 · Nov 27, 2015

Shipping has been slow on the new belt. Meanwhile, the current belt walked back into position on its own. So, alignment problems are less likely in my opinion. Bad belt is more likely. When I hold my finger gently on the surface of the belt with engine idling, I can feel bumps like the belt surface being inconsistent. I suppose this might be what is making the belt vibrate and randomly walk either way.

Onefine88 · Nov 27, 2015

John Dirks Jr said:
Shipping has been slow on the new belt. Meanwhile, the current belt walked back into position on its own. So, alignment problems are less likely in my opinion. Bad belt is more likely. When I hold my finger gently on the surface of the belt with engine idling, I can feel bumps like the belt surface being inconsistent. I suppose this might be what is making the belt vibrate and randomly walk either way.

Could be the problem! Another thing is, make sure that belt is tight as a drum! If the new belt decides to walk too and is tight, there must be a slight pulley misalignment somewhere. Just a touch off can cause it to jump a rib.
Fingers crossed for Ya on the new belt!

I had a belt walking issue when I installed my current Novi kit. My belt kept walking forward 1 rib on the A/C compressor pulley. I finally figured out that my alternator was just a little misaligned. Once I got it cleared up no mo problems.

Anyway,,,,,, It's fun ain't it!?

Boosted92LX · Nov 27, 2015

Guys, i am a machinist/ millwright. I setup and maintain all sorts of mechanical rotating equipment in a refinery. We have tons of equipment that use belts and two pulleys, and yes, you use either a straightedge, or most commonly a piece of string to align the pulleys.
Two types of misalignment to look for are offset and angularity. Both can be corrected with a simple piece of string, and if you have a belt jumping you are most likely misaligned.

Here this guy shows how to use string alignment on hvac. Same principle.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRz4H3PF2lE

JD1964 · Nov 27, 2015

Boosted92LX said:
Guys, i am a machinist/ millwright. I setup and maintain all sorts of mechanical rotating equipment in a refinery. We have tons of equipment that uses belts and two pulleys, and yes, you use either a straightedge, or most commonly a piece of string to align the pulleys.
Two types of misalignment to look for are offset and angularity. Both can be corrected with a simple piece of string, and if you have a belt jumping you are most likely misaligned.

Here this guy shows how to use string alignment on hvac. Same principle.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRz4H3PF2lE

First of all, my belt is plenty tight. I've tight red it twice since breaking it in. That is ruled out.

So, if a misalignment caused my belt to walk forward one grove, how would you explain that same misalignment causing the belt to eventually walk back to its correct position?

Boosted92LX · Nov 27, 2015

John Dirks Jr said:
First of all, my belt is plenty tight. I've tight red it twice since breaking it in. That is ruled out.

So, if a misalignment caused my belt to walk forward one grove, how would you explain that same misalignment causing the belt to eventually walk back to its correct position?

I've seen belts do lots of goofy things because of misalignment. Load it and unload it and they will jump around. The pulleys need to be on the same plane. They can be parallel but different planes and have problems (offset) or close to parallel, but one cocked a little(angularity) and do goofy things.

It's not hard to check, two people make it easier, and two minutes can rule out lots of problems.

bentley429isBAC · Nov 27, 2015

I'd say there is a misaligent. I've had the same issue and that's all it was. Also on the backside of the belt, how much can you move it? If you are depending on just the tensioner alone then it could probably be a little tighter. I used to snug the bolts down and hit the bracket with a block of wood and a hammer then really tighten the bolts. Then finally bought this little aluminum block with a bolt through it that held the tensioner in place so it couldn't back off.

elarm1 · Nov 28, 2015

I recently had a serpentine belt alignment problem. Long story short, belt would walk a rib then shred to the point of me losing a belt completely. Turns out I needed to shim my tensioner. Double check that alignment. I also am using a professional products balancer that required a spacer for the blower pully.

JD1964 · Dec 12, 2015

Update: Since the belt walked back into the correct position, it has stayed there. So, for now the problem has fixed itself.

Blower Belt Walking

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

mikestang63

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

jwog666

New Member

FoxMustangLvr

I love my Pimp

84Ttop

They make new pistons every day, so why worry?

hoopty5.0

mechanicus terribilis

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

Onefine88

Previously 89SSC18

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

Boosted92LX

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

bentley429isBAC

elarm1

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

Similar threads

Blower Belt Walking

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

New Member

I love my Pimp

They make new pistons every day, so why worry?

mechanicus terribilis

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

Previously 89SSC18

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

It's only an inch or two. What's the big deal?

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency