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Date:         Tue, 12 Feb 2002 20:56:58 -0800
Reply-To:     Claudio Cella <claudiocella@SHAW.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Claudio Cella <claudiocella@SHAW.CA>
Subject:      Re: '82 diesel water pump belt adjustment woes
Comments: To: Henry Jackson <hjackson@WELL.COM>

Henry, i had a similar problem on my 1990 Jetta TD. In my case however it was the alternator belt that was losing it's adjustment within say a couple hundred kilometers. During the summer months (higher temperature) the proper tension would last even less. After many months of trying to resolve i found the problem to be the width of the belt itself. If i recall correctly i was being sold a 10 milimeter wide belt where i should have been given an 11 milimeter wide belt. Don't quote me on the 10 vs 11 mm as these numbers could be out a bit. The bottom line was that the narrower belt was riding lower in the pulley aand therefore the angled side of the belt would not have enough bite to grip the pulley walls. This would cause the belt to slip on the pulley even though the tension was adjusted. Once the belt started to slip the belt would overheat, more heat yielded more wear and a loose belt within a short time. Within a short period of time the belt was shot. I don't know if this could be your problem as the adjusting system on your water pump belt is different than the alternator belt adjusting mechanism on my Jetta. Might be worth a look. Good luck.

1990 Jetta TD 1987 Vanagon GL 7 passenger

----- Original Message ----- From: "Henry Jackson" <hjackson@WELL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2002 5:23 AM Subject: '82 diesel water pump belt adjustment woes

I have had SO much trouble keeping the crankshaft / water pump belt adjustment correct on my 82 diesel westy. I get the belt tight by removing shims on the water pump pulley and everything works ok for a few hundred miles, then it starts slipping. I've replaced 3 belts (all high quality Bosch) and one even wore so badly it lost all of it's "wedge" becoming a rubber band.

I first smiled at the ingenious way the VW engineers figured out how to adjust the water pump fixed solidly to the block with a single belt. But removing the correct number of shims is a hit or miss guessing game and is difficult to do in a tight space. I try to get it as tight as I can, with maybe 1/8" available deflection at the midpoint of the belt span.

As far as I can tell the water pump shaft bearings are still good (no leaks or noise)

Has anyone had similar difficulty and figured out a solution? Or am I just not "getting" something and making an obvious mistake somewhere in my "water pump belt adjustment" logic?

Henry Jackson 82 1.6 diesel Westy Palo Alto, CA.


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