loose fan belt

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J

Jan

Hello all, thanks for the quick answers regarding loose fan belt. I think one possible problem is the wrong fan belt. Someone mentioned black dust around the engine. After checking, I found alot of dust. So my next question is what is the correct belt????? Where can I find it? I looked in my Universal manual it is not listed. So once again, thankyou!
 
G

Gordon Torresen

More info?

The belts are engine specific and I don't think I saw what engine is in your Catalina 30. Diesel Direct has the belts in stock for each of the four engines that I recall being used. Give us the engine model and we will supply the part number.
 
L

Les Andersen

Belts

Jan, The wrong belt is probably your answer. When changing a belt many folks remove the old one and take it to a self service auto parts store (cheaper than a marine store). There are isles filled with hundreds of different belts. They go down the isles and take their old belt and place it against the new belts until they find one that matches the length or diameter. Thats the one they get. But a critical dimension they forget is the belt width. When a v-belt runs in a pully it runs on its flat tapered sides. Those sides have to match the inside angle of the pully. If they don't match they wear until they do match. That causes the black powder. Ground up belt. As they wear they get thinner and work deeper into the pully which essentially makes them longer when measured against the bearing surfaces of the pully path. Long story short. They get loose. The pullys don't move but the belt gets loose. Not a matter of the idler pully bolt working loose, it is all in the belt. As the belt wears more it wears into the fabric that is inside the belt gradually causing the belt to quickly fall apart. Also at some point as the belt runs deeper into the v, you won't be able to physically move the idler pully any tighter and the belt cannot be tightened at all. I bet the mechanic put the wrong belt on the engine and it is just wearing out. Get the correct belt, get two, and you shouldn't have this problem. In the winter, take the belts off after you are finished with the engine to keep them from taking a set. Put the belts on top of the engine so you don't forget to put them back on in the spring. A set of belts should last for years. Too bad the rest of the boat systems are not as robust as the belts. Les s/v Mutual Fun
 
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