Belt Trouble

[gatzby143]

I have a 93 ATX which the belt keeps breaking off due to a bad a/c pulley. I want to bypass the A/c pulley completely but I cant seem to find the proper belt size to do it. I have tried searching and the only measurement that comes back is 42", so I bought that belt but that was way to short. Can anyone help me out here. Thanx

 

[SolidState]

you will have to remove the compressor or pully to use a bypass belt.

The 41 inch belt is for a 3.0L MTX SHO which has two accessory belts.

grab some string, run it around the path of the serpentine belt and then measure....

 

[gatzby143]

Well I bought a 69.5" belt after measuring it with string. Hopefully it will work or at least get me closer to the right size.

 

[gatzby143]

The 69.5 belt worked. So for anyone that wants to bypass the a/c on an ATX thats the size you go with. Also I didnt need to remove the pulley because it was not rubbing.

 

[ACV1081]

Wow, this is actually a post for an ATX... I'm going to go buy one for my car now and hopefully it'll solve my seized ac pulley problem. Is that why you bypassed your ac? Was the pulley froze?


Adam


UPDATE... belt is installed & the problem is solved. Well, that is if I installed the belt right... Did I?


<small>[ January 26, 2004, 11:28 PM: Message edited by: ACV1081 ]</small>

 

[sho.ca]

The 69.5 belt worked. So for anyone that wants to bypass the a/c on an ATX thats the size you go with. Also I didnt need to remove the pulley because it was not rubbing.

I'm trying the same thing, but am running into a tension problem. The only way I can figure is to route the belt the opposite direction around the tensioner, but then I can't get it tight enough. Even if we do get the right belt size to fit that route, we won't be able to attach it with the tensioner backwards.

How exactly are you routing the 69.5" belt to bypass the AC pulley without removing the pulley?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[sho.ca]

Epilogue: I did get it to work by routing the 69.5" belt the correct way around the tensioner. What's different is that the belt basically goes straight across the top of the water pump and bypasses the idler between the water pump and the alternator. Also, as the belt comes up over the lower idler, it turns the upper idler the opposite direction and contacts it on the ribs. Should I be concerned about this contact? Am I better off just removing that idler all together? It doesn't really add much but maybe a 1/2" of extra tension.

Also, should I be concerned that there is only about 4 inches of belt contact across the water pump? It seems to be working just fine now, but who knows when you get the motor cranking at 5000 rpm for an extended period of time.

Thanks again, this thread was a great help and saved me countless hours and/or hundreds of dollars of grief.

Dan

 

[JaredJHuffman]

This sounds like a really good solution to my broken compressor problem as well. Do you have a diagram of this setup?

-Jared J Huffman

 

[sho.ca]

AC Compressor bypass drawing

I can't figure out how to upload a drawing into this forum. I'll try to describe the routing:

1. From the alternator, the belt goes straight across to the water pump. You need to bypass the idler at this point because of the rerouting in point 3 below.
2. From the water pump, it routes as normal with the default belt until you get to the A/C Compressor.
3. Instead of going around the AC Compressor, go straight up through the idlers back to the alternator. The belt ends up contacting the idler that's normally between the alternator and the water pump on the opposite side and turning that idler in the opposite direction.

I found that a 69.5" belt is a little too tight and I ended up frying one of the idlers (I think) and the belt shredded. My mechanic put on a 70.5" belt and the only problem is that it tends to squeak and I need to use belt spray on it. A 70" belt would probably be the best.

If you want an image, please send me your email, or someone tell me how to upload an image.

I hope that helps!

Dan

 

[JaredJHuffman]

Thanks for all the help.

If you could send me an email with the diagram, that would be great.

[email protected]

 

[ShoGuy93]

Please send me a pic at [email protected]

 

[ShoGuy93]

The diagram you sent tells me nothing. All there is is circles for the pullies and a completly black background. And it doesn't show the belt...

Edit...Nm i opened it up with another program and it shows the belts. Thats how i was trying to run mine but the 70" belt is just way to tight. I got some string and measured it and i came out with 74" going the way the picture shows. And thats with UP'S if that makes a difference or not. I'm guessing it does. Since you said 70" would work.

 

[Black '93]

I wonder how long it will work or how good since in the one spot the teeth are touching the idler instead of the flat side.. I would just remove that upper idler pulley all together and see how much slop is in the belt. If it isn't flopping all over between the alternator and the lower idler, then leave it like that. There is no reason to leave it in there. Probably could use the 69.5 then too..