General Whats next ....Auxiliary Belt Squealing - how to replace!!!

[TTR]

Eh up all,

Well the daughter little 500 threw up its weekly fault !! guess i got me answer to last weeks post

Bless her she phoned to tell me she pulled over ( expecting water temp issues - see separate post) as screeching noise from car and was scared stiff ( car only just been started after been stood all day and only driven 20metres or so) . Anyway after a few simple telephone questions i determined it was the aux / alternator belt related and safe for her to continue home (limited miles to go).

Sods law noise stopped after she drove further and quiet as a mouse in the garage when i tried to get the damn thin to repeat itself :bang:

Belt appears to have "slack" in it. in the good old days you could sometimes measure the "slack" by taking the distance from a set point and determine if the belt had gone or not.

Anyway has anyone any advice on the process to replace the alternator belt, might as well get that done while im sorting the thermostat housing out

Cannot see it being too hard but access must be through the drivers wheel arch from what i can determine, does the below taken from a thread on here look about right and any more info on the crank sensor location and can you just bolt on /off assume its not sensitive to movement ?.

1 -remove drivers side front wheel after jacking etc
2-remove inner wheel arch centre piece (2 screws) after removing 3 screws from front inner liner to be able to pull centre one out-y
Centre wheel arch piece removal actually the hardest part of the job as its fiddly to remove
3-remove 2 screws from top of belt section to remove guard (from bonnet top side)
4-13mm spanner on tensioner and pull down clockwise to release tension
5-remove belt whilst holding tensioner down
6-remember where belt goes (I drew a diagram)
7-install from below the belt and get someone to slip the top on whilst again holding down the tensioner with a spanner
8-check and reinstall

As I say, the Haynes says remove crank sensor but you don't need to-it is useful however to know where it is!


all advice welcome as usual.

I will sort the teething issues with this little motor.....with luck

 

[Ralf S.]

That sounds very similar to my Stilo 1.9 JTD.

The tensioner is spring loaded and has a nut on it. Mine is 15mm and because the tensioner spring is a bastaerd I bought an extra long (18") 15mm spanner, just for that one job.. Yours may be 13mm since the engine and tensioner are smaller.

When you put "anti-clockwise" force on the nut, the sprung part of the tensioner rotates away from the belt, making it slack enough to remove. Once you have access to it, it will take you less than a minute to fit the new belt.

On my JTD the biggest ball-ache is the tension in the tensioner since you can only get a ring spanner on the nut, not a socket, swan-neck or any other type of tool that is longer than a normal toolkit spanner, to get decent leverage. The 500 might have more room (Stilo has the nut facing the inner chassis rail).

Take a photo of the belt run, although once you have the new belt in your hands, it can only fit one way if you make sure that the smooth pulleys carry the smooth side of the belt and the grooved pulleys carry the grooved side... but a photo makes it easier.

I'm liking your 500 though... it's definitely got "character" and it reminds me of so many other Fiats I have had... not unreliable... but you always need to be fixing it..


Ralf S.

 

[typecastboy]

The wing inner liner doesn’t have a centre part, it’s one piece. Careful getting it out as you can easily split it. Once it’s off there’s another cover next to the water squirter reservoir. I think it’s behind that.

 

[TTR]

Ralfs,

thanks for the update, i believe its a 13mm nut, it works exactly as you think ( or thats my understanding)

as for room and size of socket/bar/other im guessing i will sus that when i can see the thing.

always do a drawing as you can never remember routing, photo too will be useful

as for character - mmmmmmmmm jeckle and hide springs to mind

Typecastboy

thanks for that - might get he heat gun on the plastic and warm up a bit to try and reduce risk of splitting

 

[typecastboy]

Ralfs,



thanks for the update, i believe its a 13mm nut, it works exactly as you think ( or thats my understanding)



as for room and size of socket/bar/other im guessing i will sus that when i can see the thing.



always do a drawing as you can never remember routing, photo too will be useful



as for character - mmmmmmmmm jeckle and hide springs to mind



Typecastboy



thanks for that - might get he heat gun on the plastic and warm up a bit to try and reduce risk of splitting

Good idea. It tends to be getting it out from the lip of the arch. I’ve ruined a few.

 

[wardpaa]

Ralfs,

thanks for the update, i believe its a 13mm nut, it works exactly as you think ( or thats my understanding)

as for room and size of socket/bar/other im guessing i will sus that when i can see the thing.

always do a drawing as you can never remember routing, photo too will be useful

as for character - mmmmmmmmm jeckle and hide springs to mind

Typecastboy

thanks for that - might get he heat gun on the plastic and warm up a bit to try and reduce risk of splitting

I've replaced my 1.2 engine belt twice and can tell you first hand that you will need a 13mm long reach spanner to release the slack while you slip the belt on and off. The belt is around £11 from ECP so its worth replacing it anyway.
If its screeching all the time it could be alternator bearings ? Verify this by starting the car with the belt off to see if the noise goes away.
Mine developed a screech on a cold startup which was the starter motor.

 

[John202020]

Mine developed a screech on a cold startup which was the starter motor.

Now that's interesting as the wife's car, in winter I've noticed, makes a odd noise once I've released the key the starter makes a "strange" noise for just a second or so but is otherwise fine, I think the starter pinion is slow to disengage ? think I'll leave it alone though.

 

[wardpaa]

The screeching I had sounded like a slipping alternator/aux belt but it turned out to be the starter planet gears and bearing needing a service. Probably dust from the clutch gets in ? Only did it on a cold start.
Rather than replace I took my starter to a local motor factors where they recondition alternators/starters etc. Cost me £45.
Its relatively easy to replace providing that you have a good selection of 1/4" ratchet extensions, for the 12V wire securing bolt, the two mounting bolts under the car and the one which is on top of the bell housing.
Don't forget to disconnect the battery or you will have an interesting light show while you are under the car being fried. To get to the top bolt, you need to remove the battery and tray anyway for good access.

 

[TTR]

Eh up all,

Managed to get the Aux belt sorted today.

Few hints and tips from my notes:-

remove inner wheel arch centre piece (multiple screws and two 10mm nuts) also take self tapper out from under front bumper as this also joins the inner wing.

Warm up the inner wing of you can it helps. Start by taking it out from the front then work round the lip slowly to release it.

Finally it will lift free from the 10mm stud, it will make sense when you see it.

Remove the splash guard from the water reservoir 4 screws

I needed to remove the support bracket too, only two 15mm bolts.

Then you see the belt set up.

13mm spanner on tensioner and pull down clockwise to release tension, I could get a swan neck in easily so did not need a long reach.

Old belt fell off and on checking it was really cracked - pleased I caught it.

I was on my own so fed top first then did main engine pulley last slowly feeding it round whilst putting tension on the adjuster.

Took my time and checked everything, started up and jobs done.

Thanks for all the tips folks

Also no water leak from stat housing - will see what fails on the little bu883@ next

 

[John202020]

Another tip is, the small Pozi screws holding the guard in place and under the front bumper and rear bumper, replace all with stainless steel ones before the screw head rusts away to the point of not being able to be removed when you need it?