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A simple one, fan belt
jenz58 - December 21st, 2002 at 10:59 AM

OK so I replaced my first fan belt ever with the help of a fellow dubber on the other end of the mobile.

The nut was tight and a guy stopped to see if I needed help and he said I could damage the drive shaft if I did it wrong. RACV said they should be 70 mins, it was hot and a friend answered my message

Had to check the shims and tension when I got home. I just put everything back on in the order they came off and got the nut as tight as I could

By reading my John Muirs Idiot Guide I'm meant to check the tension of the belt and remove or add shims depending if it's tight or loose. Is this right?

jenz58 - December 21st, 2002 at 11:53 AM

Thanks David

I'll go out and get some spare shims, and a new spare fan belt.

Gee it made a noise when it went. Looked into the rear view mirror to see if sonmething had fallen off of Bel then noticed the red light on:o

68AutoBug - December 21st, 2002 at 04:45 PM

Well at least You did it Yourself Jen..
It really doesn't matter how loose the belt is Jen, when You replace it... as it did get You going .... It is very easy to put a belt on incorrectly with the belt down in the bottom of the generator pulley, when the top half is attached... and the nut is done up.... jamming the belt... so loose is MUCH better than NO belt at all..... Jen
Congrats.... :rudolf

Grey 57 - December 21st, 2002 at 05:52 PM

Good work Jen. The engines dont last long with no fan belt. First the red light on, then the green light on and then lights out for the motor.

Sounds like we'll make a DIY mechanic out of you yet. :thumb

11CAB - December 21st, 2002 at 08:03 PM

There should be 9 or 10 shims all up and they need to stay either in front of the pulley or behind it. If you take the shims out altoghter, the nut tightens on the shaft but not the pulley so you end up with a loose belt and a flogged out pulley. Good job on fixing it yourself. I've seen the RACQ replace belts before and remove the shims because they didn't understand the system.

jenz58 - December 22nd, 2002 at 12:55 AM

I had my daughter Bridie loosen the nut because she does weights, it wouldn't budge for me, and a VW friend on the phone talking me through it.

Basically I knew what to do but had not been bracing on the screw driver properly to stop the pulley turning while I undid the nut. Had no idea about the shims but now do!!

Well it does pay to carry spares and tools :thumb

aussiebug - December 23rd, 2002 at 01:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 11CAB
There should be 9 or 10 shims all up
Quote:

Should be 8 shims. I bought my 1970 VW new (I still have it) and it had 8 shims from the factory.
Quote:

and they need to stay either in front of the pulley or behind it. If you take the shims out altoghter, the nut tightens on the shaft but not the pulley


Quite right - the complete stack of shims, pulley halves and the dished washer has to stay the same length so the nut tightens against the pulley and not the landing on the shaft.

So any shims not used between the pulley halves should always be placed under the thick dished washer before you put the nut back on.

And just for info - the generator beetles use a 905 x 9.5mm belt and the alternator beetles use a 912 x 10.3mm belt.

The alternator cars run more hp through the belt (they also have the wider doghouse fan which uses more power) and a wider belt runs higher in the pulley groove, so it needs to be longer too.

helbus - December 23rd, 2002 at 08:26 PM

I've lost count of how many times I have done some small repair, adjustment or 'get home fix' on the side of the road.
I have got holes in the knees of all my pants because of it. LOL

It certainly pays to carry a small number of tools and spares.

Peter