Need some ideas...rapid AC belt wear (1 Viewer)

[JeepinPete]

I R&R'd the AC system on my LC last summer. Replaced most of it when all was said and done, including the bearings in the idler pulley and AC clutch. AC works great now, and held pressure over the winter.

The issue I am having is short belt life. I've gone through 4 belts to date, ranging from Autozone specials to Toyota issue, all with the same result. The belts wear out to the point there is no adjustment left in the idler pulley.

Any ideas? I have never run into such rapid belt wear before, and nothing is jumping out at me on the truck.

 

[BILT4ME]

That means you're running it too loose and it's slipping.

Tighten the new Toyota belts more.

 

[jpoole]

Tension is the likely cause but I've also seen this when there is corrosion or roughness in the pulley channels/grooves which leads to shredding and shedding. If you see little bits of grated belt around and the belt isn't stretching but getting thinner inspect to make sure the belts are riding on smooth metal without any abnormalities that could be accelerating wear.

 

[JeepinPete]

Definitely not a tension issue, at least on the latest belt. I tightened it way beyond what I would normally consider tight. The belts that come off are definitely narrower than when they went on. I will have to take a closer look at the surface of the pulleys.

 

[BigAxeJack]

Maybe you tightened it too much? I would recommend following the procedure in the FSM, or at least the generic procedure in a Haynes or Chilton book. Start with the easy & obvious stuff, ie proper belt at proper tension, and if the problem continues then follow the symptoms. Best of luck to you.

 

[Proven]

abnormal wear on a belt one of two things: 1) Tension is not set correctly 2) The thing the belt is turning is not spinning correctly.

Say you have tension right, then what the pulley is turning is requiring more force to turn than typical.

Was the pulley the same size as stock?

 

[JeepinPete]

OEM system, nothing custom. The only reason I can think of for excess torque would be something wrong with the AC compressor, or I have too much oil in the system. Suppose it could be either, but I have a couple thousand miles on the truck with the AC running. Would have thought something would have popped by now...

I've been playing with cars for 30+ years at this point. Setting up belts isn't a new thing. Never had one wear away this way, the belt is uniformly thinner.

 

[-Spike-]

x2 on a rough spot on one of the pulleys.

 

[inkpot]

Have you checked/replaced the tensioner pulley bearing? Have seen a bunch of these wear out, but they don’t fully fail. Only about $12 to replace the bearing.

 

[ppc]

Another possibility is that all the pulleys are not aligned on the same plane with each other.

 

[JeepinPete]

Bearing in both the compressor pulley and idler pulley were replace.

Haven't checked alignment.

 

[Oscar Witte]

Have you checked/replaced the tensioner pulley bearing? Have seen a bunch of these wear out, but they don’t fully fail. Only about $12 to replace the bearing.

They do fully fail sometimes, mine exploded and siezed snapping my belt.

 

[JeepinPete]

I swapped in an implement belt in place of the standard rubber V belt. We'll see how that works. A quick look see of the pulleys did not reveal anything out of the ordinary.

 

[MoJ]

Spend $11 on a Gates 91107 belt tension gage and verify the tension is within spec. This should be done with the correct belt. If it’s within spec then either the compressor or idler is the problem. Replacing the belts multiple times or purposely installing the wrong belt isn’t going to fix your problem.

 

[DanMedeiros]

Have you checked/replaced the tensioner pulley bearing? Have seen a bunch of these wear out, but they don’t fully fail. Only about $12 to replace the bearing.

Do you know the part number for this bearing? Mine is squeaky and I want to replace it.

 

[Tools R Us]

Do you know the part number for this bearing? Mine is squeaky and I want to replace it.

IIRC, it's a 6301, but it's easy to pop it off and confirm.