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Hi guys.

I'm changing out my belts and am having trouble getting the belt off between the crank pulley and the compressor pulley. The small pulley that sits in between and a little down is what I thought I needed to loosen to take the tension off the old belt. I loosened the bolt on the front side but the pulley doesn't seem to want to budge. Am I doing this right? I need to move the small pulley up a little in order to get the belt off correct? Is there a bolt on the back side I need to loosen or do I need to use more force or ???.

Any advice would be appreciated.


Thanks.

-Andy
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Andy, buy the Ipsco part immediately. The orig needs two people, one laying below the car.

If it makes it easier to get room to get the old pulley off, cut the old belt, I assume you need to put on a new belt? My experience says that a new belt needs to be tightened a few times, and if it's not the exact length, it's either impossible to get on, or gets too loose.

Bottom line: buy Ipsco part and the the exact right belt, otherwise it's a nightmare.
Another option is to avoid the entire problem, discard the idler pulley assembly and adjust the belt tension by sliding the whole compressor in or out on the slotted holes provided in the mount. All that's necessary is to slack off the 4 mount bolts and maintain alignment of the pulleys when doing this; a yardstick laying across the AC pulley and crank pulley is sufficiently accurate. The ball bearing inside the idler pulley is not long-lived and is difficult to change when (not if) it fails. Note you may need a slightly shorter belt if the idler is discarded. Mine went away in 1990 after failing at a Laguna Seca open track event, and hasn't been missed.
Can you post a picture. Or just tell me what is on the same belt as the AC compressor. Sorry to borrow your thread, but I am going to try to diagnose a belt squeak this weekend, and was hoping to get some info first. I seized my AC compressor, because my 3 year old son turned it on and I did not notice. I have the condenser out, so it was pumping air.
quote:
Originally posted by icole:
Can you post a picture. Or just tell me what is on the same belt as the AC compressor. .....

The AC compressor and alternator are on separate belts. Note that if the AC compressor is seized, then the belt should still turn freely with the switch off, if the clutch is operating properly. The squeal could be the bearings in the idler pully going south.

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quote:
Originally posted by icole:
Thank you. I got my bulkhead off. What size are the two bolts above and below the compressor belt that hold the compressor mounting bracket to the block. Mine are missing. Just above and to the left of the word here and above and to the left of the word And.

I'm going to take a guess that they are 3/8-16 x 1. Car projects like this require some inventory of basic hardware, like a nice selection of nuts bolts and washers. You might want to get a kit of assorted SAE and metric hardware. PEP Boys carries clear plastic boxes of these items.
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