Mis-aligned R134 Compressor pulleys - Is this a common issue?
Background: AC was R12 and not working, I had the system converted to R134, the compressor lost charge in 2 days, new compressor and belt, and everything ran fine for over a year.
I had another shop replace the Power Steering Pump (horrible whine) and Gear Box. My bright idea was "Replace all the belts while you are in there." Mistake and I forgot the AC belt was only a year old. It has thrown 3 belts in succession (shop to my house less than 2 miles).
It is going back to the original shop. I suspect they will be able to make it work again (I suspect a different belt may be the trick to "make it work"). I want to correct the mis-alignment eventually. Any recommendations? Is this common? If the new belts works - does this fall into "If its not broke don't fix it?"
The mis alignment is a little less than half a belt width from the compressor sheave to the tensioner sheave. The Belt is 5/8 inch wide (5/8" =10/16th" - so one half is 5/16th"). I measured the mis-alignment by laying a ruler on the face of the idler pulley and running the flat edge to the "V" of the compressor pulley. Almost center of the "V". Subtract about 1/8" (2/16ths) for the distance from the face of the pulley to the edge of the belt. That leaves a mis alignment of 3/16th of an inch (4.78 mm converted) (5/16 minus 2/16). It does not sound like much, but the two sheaves are pretty close.
Thanks in advance.
Background: AC was R12 and not working, I had the system converted to R134, the compressor lost charge in 2 days, new compressor and belt, and everything ran fine for over a year.
I had another shop replace the Power Steering Pump (horrible whine) and Gear Box. My bright idea was "Replace all the belts while you are in there." Mistake and I forgot the AC belt was only a year old. It has thrown 3 belts in succession (shop to my house less than 2 miles).
It is going back to the original shop. I suspect they will be able to make it work again (I suspect a different belt may be the trick to "make it work"). I want to correct the mis-alignment eventually. Any recommendations? Is this common? If the new belts works - does this fall into "If its not broke don't fix it?"
The mis alignment is a little less than half a belt width from the compressor sheave to the tensioner sheave. The Belt is 5/8 inch wide (5/8" =10/16th" - so one half is 5/16th"). I measured the mis-alignment by laying a ruler on the face of the idler pulley and running the flat edge to the "V" of the compressor pulley. Almost center of the "V". Subtract about 1/8" (2/16ths) for the distance from the face of the pulley to the edge of the belt. That leaves a mis alignment of 3/16th of an inch (4.78 mm converted) (5/16 minus 2/16). It does not sound like much, but the two sheaves are pretty close.
Thanks in advance.
