legacycentral bbs

I know I have posted about this problem before, but it still remains and no one that I know seems to be able to help...that's you all in your amazing knowledge of BC's come in. My Alt/Power Steering belt has the strange tendency to break rather often and I am at a loss on how to correct it. Thus far I think I have changed it 6 times, on car with 57000 miles that is rediculous. I have looked at all the pulleys and they seem to be in very good condition. I make sure to provide the correct tension every time (including one occassion where it was changed at a shop and still broke within a week). The only issue I see is that the Power steering pump seems to have its pulley set back about 1/16in from the others, but would this really cause that much of an issue? I have a stereo with one amp installed, but I dont think that that is putting too terrible a load on the Alt. Also the belt tends to squeal a good bit after it has been on for a week or so when I begin to use the Heater of defroster and I know its not the PS pump dying because I replaced it very recently, and the problem existed with the old one....I am at a loss.....

Your power steering pump's pulley being misaligned could very well be the reason your belts keep snapping.

Why would the power steering pump pulley not be in the right plane, though? Hmm... Can you shim it forwards with some washers on its mounting bolts or something?

i suppose I could try that but of course with full time school and a job time will be an issue. My father was thinking of putting in a thin washer on the pulley driveshaft just to bring the pulley forward a bit..any thoughts on this? Oh and thanks for the quick reply

I suppose that could work as well. Just make sure there are still enough threads engaged in the nut holding the pulley in place.

Removing the power steering pump is very easy to do. You remove the belt and then it's just three bolts (you access them through the holes in the pulley).

the PS pump could also have moved back a little if those bolts aren't tight. because as you tighten those bolts they bring the ps pump foreward to snuggle up with its mounting bracket or maybe there is some stray washer stuck between them or something. All of the accessories are mounted to the engine with cast aluminum peices so if the pulleys are tight you might check those mounts for play or missing bolts or something. Just some ideas.

When I did an engine swap in my truck, I had one pulley that was off by about 2 thin washers. ( I forgot the shims.) It ate belts in about 3-4 weeks. I am willing to bet that is exactly what is going on with you. my belts always shredded on one side then tore in half. run one of your belts for awhile then see which side is coming apart first. That will tell you which side is off.