Accessory drive belt

[srvett]

Help! My 1988 Callaway has a problem. The lower banjo fitting on the oil pump drags against the water pump pulley when the AC is on. I tried changing the belt but with no success. It looks OK when installed and works OK until you turn on the AC. Then the oil pump drags hard against the water pump pulley. The cross referenced belt is 92.3" long. I tried a 91 and a 91.5 but could not get them on even with the alternator loose. Is the Callaway belt different than the stock belt? I assume this is a belt size problem but could it be something else? Could it be a problem with the oil pump/tensioner?

 

[callaway4fun]

The Callaway belt is different. Itr is Callaway specific.You must loosen up the alternator in order to get the new belt on . I am sure others will chime in .

 

[SurfnSun]

I had this same problem. I tried 2 belts from the parts store, one too big, one too small. I had a spare Callaway belt in the back of my car, I loosened the alternator and it went right on. Well I say right on, it took a bit of elbow grease and patience to do it by myself.

 

[*89x2*]

The Callaway belt is different. Itr is Callaway specific.You must loosen up the alternator in order to get the new belt on . I am sure others will chime in .

Hopefully Callaway4Fun still has a spare belt & can take a measurement on it for you - the ammount of ribs is the same however, the length is specific as the tensioner has been chaged to the B2K specific unit

I had help when changing mine - Thanks again Turbo Joe
Worked well as a 2 person job

 

[srvett]

Got it!

OK -- after trying like three different belts I broke down and called Callaway. It is a Callaway specific part. Made for them they thought by Goodyear. It was $42 bucks which was not much different than the parts from Advance. I have enough practice now that installing it by myself is no sweat with my handy broomstick!

 

[jcummings250]

I had to change mine on my '92 SNAT and I used the one for the LT1 engine. Seems to work fine... maybe because there are no turbos to deal with?

 

[*89x2*]

I had to change mine on my '92 SNAT and I used the one for the LT1 engine. Seems to work fine... maybe because there are no turbos to deal with?

Yep - SNAT uses the stock LT1 belt on our cars - B2K Turbos use a different one due to the "idler pulley" being replaced by the oil pump for the turbos

 

[jcummings250]

B2K Turbos use a different one due to the "idler pulley" being replaced by the oil pump for the turbos

Got it. So, does the addition of the turbos also increase the oil capacity? I believe it is 5 quarts on the SNAT, I would assume that adding turbos then required possibly a bigger oil pan and more oil?

 

[*89x2*]

There is a supplemental pan set at the front of the frame near the engine oil pan - it does hold an extra quart as the Twiin Turbo owners manual specs 6 qt's to fill. 15w50 Mobil 1 Synthetic

 

[srvett]

Problem not solved!

After installing the correct belt from Callaway, the oil pump rides what looks like a comfortable distance from the water pump pulley BUT when I turn on the A/C it still drags. Callaway told me that they rebuild the oil pumps but it is mainly for the internal pump mechanism. The spring tension seems to be good. Now I am wondering if this is a problem with the A/C compressor. It seems to load the belt way too much. Any ideas? :confused

 

[SurfnSun]

Can you take some pics so we can see?

 

[srvett]

Here are a couple of pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of the problem. It's hard to get a good angle on it but you can see the position of the oil pump fitting relative to the water pump pulley. This is the position it runs at except when the A/C compressor kicks on then it drags.

 

[srvett]

Here is another angle.

 

[SurfnSun]

Before I put my Callaway spec belt on, we put the shorter belt on and had to remove the waterpump pulley to do it. Im not sure why its still dragging, but if you can get that short belt on I can guarantee it won't drag. But that would just be a temp fix, Id want to find out whats going on.

 

[*89x2*]

Re: Problem not solved!

After installing the correct belt from Callaway, the oil pump rides what looks like a comfortable distance from the water pump pulley BUT when I turn on the A/C it still drags. Callaway told me that they rebuild the oil pumps but it is mainly for the internal pump mechanism. The spring tension seems to be good. Now I am wondering if this is a problem with the A/C compressor. It seems to load the belt way too much. Any ideas? :confused

Logic would point you towards the AC compressor however, why would it cause such drag?? Is it dragging so much it causes the spring to do what it is, pulling into the water pump pulley OR is the spring in the oil pump weak to the point that it cannot handle the extra drag caused by the ac clutch when ac is on :confused

I am wondering if the dealership would be able to diagnose the AC end of it as I doubt they would know the tensions for the oil pulley / tensioner - those pics you posted were clearly :eek

hang in there - meantime, it is not really AC weather anymore