Technical 2.4 Power steering / alternator belts

[halilson]

Hi, just when I said that I hadn't had any problems for a while....
I was turning my car round on the driveway, when the belt screeched and a warning light came on. After an age removing covers etc, I got to the root of the problem. The short 5 groove belt had shredded itself and then got trapped under the alternator belt! I think it's the air con belt. It is an absolute pain to get to and I can't begin to see how to adjust the pulley to remove the belts. Has anybody else replaced one? I searched the Forum but could only find 1.9 engines, which are different.
Thanks in advance.

 

[evo-number-one]

Hal'

Based on your description it sounds like its the Alternator to air con pump auxiliary belt - 6th one down on this site - http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/parts/Alfa_Auxiliary_Belt.shtml

Unfortunately they only have the cambelt summary cambelt which doesn't seem to make reference to it.

Not sure if it will reap anything, but might be worth a trawl through the 159/brera section of AlfaOwner?


Bob

 

[halilson]

Thanks Evo, that looks like the right part. I have got a warranty, but I don't fancy the car being parked up for weeks while a local garage tries to source the parts. I will ring the AA and see what they say. The car is in bits at the moment so I might have to clean up the shredded belt and run it without aircon, while I find best way to solve the problem. Hopefully it hasn't damaged the alternator belt, though I will replace it anyway when I do the aircon one.

 

[halilson]

Update:
I have bought an alternator belt for £15 and ordered a new air con belt from Fiat, which was also £15. They reckon it will be here in the morning, so hopefully I will be mobile again tomorrow afternoon....well that's the plan anyway

 

[halilson]

What a b***h!! The 2.4 uses a stretch belt to power the alternator from the double pulley on the air con unit, which in turn is driven by a 2nd, normal belt. Fiat must have some sort of fancy tool to stretch the belt on because, despite having 2 different types of tools at our disposal, we struggled for several hours to fit the new belts. At least it's all done now.

 

[s130]

Stilo Abarth 2.4 also uses a stretch belt. Getting the belt on is best done by hand cycling the engine an gently levering the belt over the last pulley and winding on at the same time. I think I use a 1mm piece of cardboard (like those on the back of A4 notepads) to protect the belt whilst it runs over the groove pulley.

NOTE! If I remember correctly not al the pulleys have the same height end flanges so you need to choose the lowest one, or a lower one, and also a pulley that is accessible AND with a best fit radius conducive to easy belt wind on. (if that makes sense)

 

[halilson]

Unfortunately you can't turn the engine over by hand, from the crank pulley, because the drive belt goes over the outer pulley and would be in the way of the stretch belt. Plus you can't turn the air con pulley because the clutch is disengaged when the engine isn't running! I can only assume that Fiat has a tool that not only assists the belt on, but locks the pulley wheel too. Next time I'll bite the bullet and take it to Fiat under my warranty. I've since checked the Alfa forum's and they had the same problems.

 

[s130]

Jack one wheel up off the ground, select 3rd or 4th gear and get someone to rotate the jacked up wheel. I use this method a lot as it is often easier than using a socket on the crank pulley.

 

[halilson]

Auto gearbox!! The belt that goes around the crank has a tensioner, which is straightforward, but it has to go on after the stretch belt, so it can't be used to turn the air con pulley.
Never mind, at least it's done now. Definitely not a diy job.