Volvo Belt Dust

Dan Johnson · Mar 19, 2012

Ducati...

I've got a Yannie, not a Volvo, but have had the belt dust problem. Seems that the pully shield on the alternator was catching the belt and abrading it. A little judicious bending solved the problem. See pix...

Tom J · Mar 19, 2012

I've had the same problem on my Universal M25 since I tried a NAPA belt. I'm pretty sure the V of the belt doesn't match the V of the pulleys. The tension is good, of course, as is the alignment.

Ray Bowles · Mar 19, 2012

I hope the diesel pro meant that belt alignment was a probable cause as most of the time that dark dust accumulates on the engine it's the belt. If he meant, sight unseen, that engine alignment caused the dust I think I would be looking for a pro with a better decision making process.
Good luck, Ray

packman · Mar 20, 2012

two things cause belt dust, chafing and belt misalignment as long as the sheave isn't worn out, pretty rare. worn bearings in the driven units can cause an otherwise well aligned belt system to eat belts as the sheave moves further and further out of parallel. Another thing to watch out for is putting fractional horsepower belts on if they're not specified, they fit about the same but are designed for less than 1 horsepower load. FHP belts appear to be cogged on the bottom, standard belts are smooth.

Kite Runner · Mar 20, 2012

It seems unlikely the engine is misaligned, the pulleys are attached to the engine and are not separate. I would check the brackets for trueness by seeing how the pulleys align with one another. First though check your belt tension. Clean up the dust and see, if possible, the dust appears first. A very loose belt or even a pulley out 3-5 degrees can cause the dust. One last thing. Check with Volvo and see if you have the correct belt. Some belts do differ. Can't see it being an engine misalignment.

Good Luck!

Bill Roosa · Mar 20, 2012

Belt tension?
While you have the unit loose to tighten the belt spin the alternator and other pulley to make sure the bearings are not going.
Belt at the end of its useful life?

packman · Mar 20, 2012

If the belt tension is too low, slippage, too tight and it'll destroy the bearings in the accesories, but a slightly worn set of bearings and too much tension will cause that 3deg or more angular misalignment of the sheaves that will shave the edges of the belt and cause dust, usually the dust is a sign that the belt is chafing against something, or a fair amount of angular misalignment between sheaves (pulleys). Check across the sheaves with a straight edge, if they're not Very close to dead nutts aligned you'll suffer endless belt woes. Check alignment with the belt removed, then check it tensioned properly, If the alignment is out with tension you may have some worn accessory bearings or mount problems. I tell my students RTFB, which means READ THE BOOK. More problems in power transmission are caused by improper tensioning or alignment than any other single cause. The manual will tell you the proper belts to use as well.
Good luck

Rich

Maine Sail · Mar 20, 2012

Ducati said:
Just noticed belt dust has been collecting on and around the Volvo MD2030. May have stared at end of season last year.

I have also observed that the space between belt and engine or tolerance is super narrow (that could be the design) and it looks to be almost rubbing. Maybe a loose belt?

I'm leaving it to my local diesel pro however his first comment (before seeing it) was that the engine may be misaligned. Ouch! Sounds expensive.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

Funny you bring up the D2030. I just shipped off a set of D2030 pulleys to Electromaax today so we they can develop a serpentine belt kit for that engine. It's a tricky fit due to the timing marks near the crank pulley. The factory belt is quite small and can't take much load. Which amp Valeo alt do you have?

I am installing a 140A alt and the serpentine kit. Will post some pics when I get the pulley kit and have all the bugs worked out of that kit.. Once the fit is right and I give Electromaax the go ahead they will have the kit available for the D2030..

This customer also had severe belt dusting but the belt is in perfect alignment and is the factory belt.. He claims to have the "optional" alt that is supposedly about 90A but he's trying to feed a massive bank of Odyssey batteries that gulp current...

RichH · Mar 20, 2012

Dan Johnson said:
I've got a Yannie, not a Volvo, but have had the belt dust problem. Seems that the pully shield on the alternator was catching the belt and abrading it. A little judicious bending solved the problem. See pix...

Hey Dan, If you carefully scrutinize your sheaves in your pic. .... RUSTED SHEEVE grooves. The cast crankshaft pulley and cast Alt pulley should clean up with judicious (extreme care) use of emery cloth, etc. but that pressed metal pump sheave (on the left) probably has become pitted. That damn 'pressed steel' pump sheave on Yanmars is notorious for pitting/rusting/'belt-dusting'.
A good case for spraying Boeshield™ on the sheaves when laying up a boat for long term, etc.

Dan Johnson · Mar 21, 2012

Rich H...

Thanks for the advice. Will take a look next visit to the boat (Friday). This pic was shot when the engine hadn't been run for a while as I don't recall normally seeing rust specs in the pulley belt groove facings during normal useage.

Also suspect the belt flex that caused the rubbing was due to an aging belt. Will be replacing both belts (raw water and alternator) this spring commissioning.

The pressed sheave on the raw water pump is a more common problem. I've seen a couple over the years that ate belts because they became slightly bent, causing a mis-alignment.

Volvo Belt Dust

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