Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:04:54 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: V-Belt tightness -- how to determine?
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I suspect you are calling the coolant tower, aka water distribution gizmo on
a 2.1 waterboxer vanagon. and hidden behind the firewall on the right side,
an octopus.
a bit confusing since the main top hose on a diesel vanagon is called the
octopus hose.
as you likely know, the hose that goes over the top of the bell housing .,.
on your auto trans vanagon..
tends to deteriorate from heat and oil fumes coming off the torque
converter.
A known weakness.
I convert those to pipe, with hoses on the end, using the over-bell-housing
pipe set-up that's found on syncro vanagons, part of it actually. Or some
pipe of the right curve and length.
a step down from that, is to at least run that hose though a section of warm
air intake hose..that flexy metal hose that's about 2 1/2 inches ID. That
helps protect that hose from heat and oil fumes fairly well.
the right way to get the right Coolant distribution Tower is the get the
part # off the old one.
they just crumble and break 'anyway' eventually. There are a few variations
of that part.
now you know that Batt warning light being on 'can' mean no drive to water
pump.
And ....hopefully, you have no harm to your engine.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike" <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 3:55 PM
Subject: Re: V-Belt tightness -- how to determine?
> It caused mine to fail within minutes! (It must have been on the edge,
> apparently and that was the last straw)
> I was hearing a new squeal after snugging both belts a bit, so I broke out
> my mechanic's stethoscope and that confirmed that it was coming from
> inside
> the W/P.
> I decided to take it on along trip the next weekend, figuring that it
> wouldn't cause any immediate problem, as it wasn't leaking a drop. Well,
> I
> was wrong!
> About 50 miles from home cruising down the highway @ 65 mph, with my 3
> kids
> on board, I though maybe I had smelled burning rubber, and wondered why.
> A
> minute later the charging light came on and confirmed my suspicion that it
> must have thrown the alternator belt. I slowed down and considered
> pulling
> over on the Mass Pike, but traffic was heavy, so I figured that I could
> make
> it a few more miles to the next rest area with no alternator. It'd
> probably
> run on a good battery for a lot longer that that, so I figured no problem,
> right? Well, I forgot that the alternator belt was also the W/P belt, and
> within another minute I heard a pop and saw steam fill my rear view. I
> immediately shut it down and pulled over into the breakdown lane and
> coasted
> to a stop. I got out to survey and saw a lot of antifreeze pouring out
> from
> the right rear side of the van. I opened the decklid and found the belt
> laying there and all else looked good. I poured a whole gallon of
> antifreeze into it, in hopes of limping to the Ludlow rest-stop. I ran
> the
> engine for very short bursts and coasted the majority of the way into the
> rest-stop. I couldn't see the source of the leak, and had no extra belt,
> so
> I called triple-A. The MA state trooper said that they had to handle any
> tows off the Pike, so I got them to arrange towing it off the pike. They
> towed it all the way to my house (AAA PLUS!), and when I finally got a
> closer look, I found that the right plastic octopus (hiding behind the
> firewall) had blown out one of the large plastic plugs that's glued-in. I
> took it out and found that the dealer still carries them. I may need a
> new
> large hose, as I may have damaged it removing it. It has a molded tee
> going
> over the top of the auto trans and it looks hard-to-find and expensive,
> not
> to mention difficult to replace.
> So now, I need a W/P, a belt, an octopus, a molded hose, some jugs of
> coolant and then I'll see how it goes from there. No money available
> right
> now, so it'll have to wait a bit. Oh well.....
>
> Mike B.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roland
> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 12:11 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: V-Belt tightness -- how to determine?
>
> I've wondered about this also:
>
> - too loose, and the belt may squeal (maybe other problems if it is too
> loose).
> - too tight, and the water pump bearing might wear out more quickly
> (pretty
> sure an overly tight belt caused my last water pump failure).
>
> Roland
>
> On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 7:13 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <
> camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Something I've never understood about tightening the belt. Instructions
>> usually say something like:
>>
>> "Be careful not to get the belts too tight. You should have
>> slight (1/8" - 1/4") deflection in the belts after they are adjusted.
>> This of course depends on the length of the belt."
>>
>> <http://www.vanagonauts.com/**printable.phtml?&catid=215<http://www.vanagonauts.com/printable.phtml?&catid=215>
>> >
>>
>> How much pressure do you put behind your thumb when testing? I can
>> deflect the belt anywhere from not much to a lot more by pressing harder!
>>
>> --
>> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
>> Bend, Ore.
>> 1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people.
>> 1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in
>> San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.
>>
>> Sent from my kitchen.
>>
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