Peter Carmichael Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 I had to get a tow home from Llandow when my alternator belt failed. I knew from blowing up the big engine that failed belts tend to wrap around the crank pulley and end up inside the cambelt cover. I haven't run the engine since the belt failure and I have started checking it out. Last night I removed the cover and pulled out a handful of belt bits. I checked the cam timing marks and everything is exactly lined up so it looks like I might have escaped without damage. I will be checking the inside of the cover fully before starting the engine again. What made the belt fail? The alternator I run is a tiny Nippon Denso unit that has to run a large pulley. The large pulley takes the belt run very close to one of the cambelt cover bolts. The belt had worn itself away on the bolt and then shredded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinwhitcher Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 Peter, are you saying that you are running a standard alternator? if so we should keep an eye on it and be careful Martin MW 51 CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted October 16, 2002 Author Share Posted October 16, 2002 This is with a non-standard alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 Peter, has something else changed recently then 🤔 You did thousands of miles with the super engine and then it shredded a belt. other engine and it shreds its belt in a thousand miles. Was the bigger pulley a recent mod 🤔 HOOPY Membership Number 4136 R706KGU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted October 16, 2002 Author Share Posted October 16, 2002 The superdoop engine ran a smaller (R500) crank pulley which slowed the alternator down. The alternator had to cope with more engine revs, but it still seemed a bit tardy in starting to charge at low revs. I tried running a smaller alternator pulley and it over-revved the alternator leading to a dead alternator. While that alternator was being fixed, I replaced it with an apparently identical Nippon Denso alternator, but the mounting needed modifying. I didn't drill the hole straight enough and it threw the belt killing the big engine. The Supersport engine runs the standard K-series crank pulley, so it needs to run the larger alternator pulley. This combination of a large pulley at each end was enough to bring the belt run close to one of the cam cover bolts. All the problems are related to running a non-standard alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Westie Posted October 16, 2002 Share Posted October 16, 2002 Peter A few things to think about: - Is the alternator soild on its mountings? - Is there any chance it could touch something as the engine moves on its mountings? (happened to me). - Is the Alternator pulley exactly in line with the crank pulley? - Is there enough tension in the belt? - Are there any defects in the alternator pulley. Good luck The car in front is a Westfie1d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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