Hotside pullies

[stratosteve]

I am not happy with my current SOT pullies. I believe they are slipping and clearance is an issue. I am getting some belt rub on the power steering pulley. Do the FFS pullies give additional clearance for the p/s? Right now I have about 1/16 to 1/8 and there is contact at times. Moving the blower assembly towards the front of the car is causing alignment problems with the auto tensioner.

[Scuba Steve]

I had the same problem and went to FFS pulleys simply because they are better pulleys.

I do have the same alignment problem (with the PS pulley) and the FFS pulleys will not resolve that, unless we could get Tom to create a (SC pulley) spacer that is a few thousands of an inch smaller (I bet about .025 would be perfect, hint hint hint). I thought about removing the spacer. but I don't think the adjustment could make up for the difference.

Another note - how does moving the SC cause problems with the auto tensioner? The auto tensioner is attached to the SC and moves with it. Moving the SC, should only change alignment with the crank pulley. Is it possible you need to reverse the pulley on the tensioner? Several of us had to do that to keep the tensioner from jumping the belt.

[Serpico]

I also have about the same amount of space between the belt and the power steering pulley but don't have any problems with it actually making contact.

However, I'm running a hybrid setup (FFS nose pulley/ BRP crank).... ;)


Yup, I had to reverse the auto-T's pulley as well to keep it from jumping off. Never a problem since and I'm still on the original belt (14,000 miles since last June)

[stratosteve]

I had the same problem and went to FFS pulleys simply because they are better pulleys.

I do have the same alignment problem (with the PS pulley) and the FFS pulleys will not resolve that, unless we could get Tom to create a (SC pulley) spacer that is a few thousands of an inch smaller (I bet about .025 would be perfect, hint hint hint). I thought about removing the spacer. but I don't think the adjustment could make up for the difference.

Another note - how does moving the SC cause problems with the auto tensioner? The auto tensioner is attached to the SC and moves with it. Moving the SC, should only change alignment with the crank pulley. Is it possible you need to reverse the pulley on the tensioner? Several of us had to do that to keep the tensioner from jumping the belt.


I had the same thought....tensioner moves with the whole assembly. So if I move the whole assembly 1/8 ", then I should gain 1/8" additional clearance from the p/s pulley. So far that is not the case. It would seem that moving the assembly has moved the blower pulley out of alignment with the crank pulley. In doing so it has caused the belt to shift on the tensioner. So much so that the tensioner pulley does not "seat" fully on the belt. The belt is further forward (towards the front of the car) than the tensioner. The tensioner pulley is installed as shipped from SOT. I tried to reverse during the install (because of previous discussions) and found the pulley worked better as shipped.

[HotsideHamid]

I have the same problems with my alignment on my BRP kit as well. The belt is sitting on the very inside lip of the auto tensioner- in fact there is no more room left for adjustment. If I move the SC back a little bit to allow the belt to sit in the middle of the tensioner, it will rub against the power steering pulley. I was hoping Tom's pulleys may resolve the issue. Hey Tom- any way you could space the pulleys a little further out?

Also, you guys that have turned the pulleys around- is the "open" part of the pulley facing the front of the car now? I may need to do this if it helps.

-Hamid

[Serpico]

Yes, the open part is now facing the front.

I reversed it because my belt would immediately jump off as soon as I cranked the motor. Since reversing it , it has never jumped off and I've never seen any belt dusting.

[MikeyLikesIt]

Yes, the open part is now facing the front.

I reversed it because my belt would immediately jump off as soon as I cranked the motor. Since reversing it , it has never jumped off and I've never seen any belt dusting.


Hmm, that may be a good one for me to try too. Mine is sitting on the very inside edge, and I've also added some thick washers as spacers between the tensioner plate and the spacers that mount to it. Seems to have worked very well so far...

Mike

[stratosteve]

I adjusted the assembly last night and I think it is better. When I originally installed the kit, I put a mark on the HBA so I would have a reference point for future use. Recently I took the blower off and reassembled using the mark. That was my problem. I moved the assembly towards the front of the car past the mark and all is good (pending a test drive). I now have better clearance and the tensioner is lined up. I just need to vacuum up all the little rubber pieces and see if they return.

[HotsideHamid]

Aha! Okay, so I'll turn my pulley around then, since the belt is riding on the inside edge. I just got the TDR heat blanket, so I guess that will be a good time to tinker. I do have to take the blower off right?

-H

[chuckerants]

Aha! Okay, so I'll turn my pulley around then, since the belt is riding on the inside edge. I just got the TDR heat blanket, so I guess that will be a good time to tinker. I do have to take the blower off right?

-H

Yup, you do have to take the blower off. At the least, you have to be able to swivel the blower out of the way - this is how I ended up doing it. After wrestling with the blower and trying to figure out (and trying to remember) how the damned thing was installed, I just got tired of it.

[bogey]

I am extremely happy with my coldside belt arrangement compared to that of the hotside I had. The hotside required far too much attention. Its no wonder the turbo fans always saying that SC belts are too much trouble.

There is absolutely nothing to worry about with the coldside autotensioner Tracking is perfect. No slippage and there is no indication of any wear after 6 months.

[chuckerants]

I am extremely happy with my coldside belt arrangement compared to that of the hotside I had. The hotside required far too much attention. Its no wonder the turbo fans always saying that SC belts are too much trouble.

There is absolutely nothing to worry about with the coldside autotensioner Tracking is perfect. No slippage and there is no indication of any wear after 6 months.

I'm happy with my HS belt too once Tom was able to engineer the AT for it. The problem so far has been that there are MANY versions of the BRP hotside and thus Tom has had a tough time trying to make the AT work for each version. Other than that, my HS AT is about as trouble free as the AT for the CS.

I may look at the belt/pulley about once a week to check to make sure they look ok, but that's about it.

[HotsideHamid]

Well shoot... I worked on the pulley and BRP auto tensioner setup today. I flipped the pulley around but it really didn't help any- the belt is just too close to the ps pulley! I can't seem to get that belt out any further. why in the hell do these old kits have such tight tolerances?!
Is there another possible fix besides getting spacers for both of the pulleys? Those of you that have used washers to push the sc out a bit, where did you put the washers? I don't see how that could fix my situation.:frown:

-Hamid

PS- On a lighter note, I finally tuned my tps so my car now drives very smooth!

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

Go to NAPA and ask them for the 8 rib idler pulley and swap them. I think it is ~$35. That is just enough wider to let you space everything out. I have the number around here somewhere. I bought one to test. Take yours with you so they can match the diameter.

You can also put a small washer between the tensioner and it's pulley to move the pulley out.

[HotsideHamid]

Oh... I think I get it. So you're saying that if the wheel on the AT is slightly wider, it requires you to move the SC a little closer to the front of the car, thus bringing the belt a little further away from the power steering pulley as well? Is that right?

Also Tom, did you get all of my info yesterday? I'm starting to sweat with excitement!

-Hamid

[Tom @ Fast Forward]

yes, that is correct. The wider pulley gets you that little bit of help.

I did get all the data. All I need is time to organize and ship stuff.