Volvo Penta Drive Belt - Lots of dust and quickly wearing??

[CaptnO]

Hey Guys,

I have new Pulley, new water pump, new circulation pump pulley, new belt tensioner, new power steering pulley and for some reason my belt is melting away pretty quickly (It's making a squeaking noise already). There is so much belt dust in my engine bay. I have about 60-75 hours since I replaced everything. Any thoughts what could be the issue?

I did get a rebuilt water pump which the company media blasts the threads, so not sure if this could be the issue?

Here are some pics and videos - https://photos.app.goo.gl/KgzR7KYaedXgjvN27

Thanks for taking the time for looking. Hopefully someone can provide me with some insight here.

 

[alldodge]

What motor is it?
Might have it routed the wrong way. Show a pic of the belt on the motor

 

[itsathepete]

Make sure your pulleys are properly aligned. Put a straight edge across them and they should all line up. If not, they are improperly mounted or wrong pulleys or accessories are not correct or improperly mounted.

 

[CaptnO]

What do you mean by putting a straight edge across them?

Here is a video of the belt running from a few weeks ago as well - https://photos.app.goo.gl/dj86wtwfczTG9bxy8

 

[Bt Doctur]

Dont believe the belt tensioner should be moving that much

 

[CaptnO]

Dont believe the belt tensioner should be moving that much

Yea I thought so too. So not sure what could be causing that problem? Maybe I might have not have the belt aligned correctly?

 

[alldodge]

Think your belt might be to long

 

[Lou C]

If you slow the video down it appears that the edge of the belt is contacting the tensioner at the 6-9 second mark. That suggests that something is out of alignment or the tensioner itself is bad.

 

[itsathepete]

What do you mean by putting a straight edge across them?

Take a straight edge like a 2 foot bubble level or a carpenter's square across the pulleys edge. Make sure they are lined up with each other and not sitting crooked

 

[ripjmk]

Why did you replace the pulleys? Did you have belt dusting with the old pulleys?

 

[CaptnO]

Here is a new video from yesterday after installing new belt. Looks like things are better aligned and isn't rubbing on that belt tensioner as much. The only thing I notice is that the power steering pulley has a slight wobble and the idle puller is flush on one side and has a lip on the other side. Not sure if that's okay or not.

New video by Orlando C Karpf (OCKarpf)

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Donald0039]

I have had rusty pulleys sand down the belt in no time. I (laugh) initially the movement of the belt would remove the rust (laugh again).

 

[ta79pr]

If you slow the video down it appears that the edge of the belt is contacting the tensioner at the 6-9 second mark. That suggests that something is out of alignment or the tensioner itself is bad.

Saw that too, the belt is a smidge too long, the tensioner pulley is therefore not angled correctly and causing the slapping and also that rubbing.

 

[doh13]

my buddy had this problem as well on his vp 5.7 there are other posts around the internet about the vp bracket not being aligned correctly causing this issue which seems to be pretty common issue on certian years and I think they came out with a new updated bracket eventually.. Some folks have removed the bracket and had it machined etc. but we did the quick and dirty fix of filing down the tensioner with a metal file where the belt was rubbing . we shouldnt have taken off enough material to compromise the tensioner strength hopefully but in reality it should eventually be fixed properly as those belts aren't cheap..

 

[CaptnO]

my buddy had this problem as well on his vp 5.7 there are other posts around the internet about the vp bracket not being aligned correctly causing this issue which seems to be pretty common issue on certian years and I think they came out with a new updated bracket eventually.. Some folks have removed the bracket and had it machined etc. but we did the quick and dirty fix of filing down the tensioner with a metal file where the belt was rubbing . we shouldnt have taken off enough material to compromise the tensioner strength hopefully but in reality it should eventually be fixed properly as those belts aren't cheap..

Which Bracket are you referring too?

 

[CaptnO]

Saw that too, the belt is a smidge too long, the tensioner pulley is therefore not angled correctly and causing the slapping and also that rubbing.

How do you get a slightly shorter belt if everything for this engine is specific to certain part numbers. This belt is the correct part no for the 5.7 GXi-E Engine

 

[alldodge]

How do you get a slightly shorter belt if everything for this engine is specific to certain part numbers. This belt is the correct part no for the 5.7 GXi-E Engine

If you know the circumference can get/order one shorter. Auto parts house can order or use the Gates book to find

 

[Grub54891]

Were the pulleys you replaced the exact same diameter? It doesn't take much to change the length.

 

[CaptnO]

If you know the circumference can get/order one shorter. Auto parts house can order or use the Gates book to find

yea I looked up the oem part no. online it looks like that length is 2530mm so getting a belt that is 2510mm should be worth a shot?

Were the pulleys you replaced the exact same diameter? It doesn't take much to change the length.

Not sure. I think I still might have my old pulleys I could check that as well

 

[CaptnO]

So I spoke to one of the local mechanics and he might think that it could be my two AMPS that might be drawing to much Amps for the Alternator which is causing it to eat up my belts. I am running a Fusion SG-DA41400 and a Rockville Atom 8m. My current alternator is stock and runs up to 70amps. So not sure if that could be the cause any thoughts on this?