Date:         Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:06:33 -0400
Reply-To:     72510.1173@COMPUSERVE.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Helen Fahy <72510.1173@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject:      Fan belt slipping indications?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi,

I traveled to NJ over the weekend and an odd thing happened.

Background.
'87 Westy with a light load of camping stuff.  The oil pressure &
temperature is normally 10 psi/1000rpm and the oil temp is ~210(using oil
pan sensor). So 4000 rpm at operating temp: 40psi and 210 deg f.  On the
water side, the upper edge of the gauge needle is at the lower edge of the
led.  On the electrical side, the voltmeter reads 13.55v.

The ODD thing.
At 4000 rpm, the oil temp rose to ~225, oil pressure dropped to 30 psi, the
voltmeter displayed 12.95 and the water temp gauge needle was just obscuring
the led.

What I think happened.
The fan belt was slipping, as this turns the alternator and the water pump.
I will verify this today or tomorrow.  Without the oil gauges AND the
voltmeter, I would not have noticed any operating differences.

Anyone with other conclusions?  Could this be induced by electrical system
grounding problems?

The fan belt tension is the easiest to address.  However it was so very hot,
that now the tension might seem fine.  My usual test for belt tension is to
evaluate my ability to twist the belt 90 degrees between the pulleys, should
be able to do so without a lot of effort.  Not very accurate, I know,
but....

Thanks for any ideas.
Joe Fahy