Thread: too small of a s/c belt???

How much damage can running too small of a s/c belt cause? I went to swap pullies out and discovered only about an inch of tensioner play. It was nearly impossibl eto get the belt off. Anyway the belt was a 650 on a 3.25 pulley. The belt that is supposed to go with a 3.25 is a 660.

Anyway, I hear a clunking inside of the blower when I turn or pull on the pulley. For the life of me I don't remember if some noise from play is normal.

I don't feel it catching, really. It more sounds like the rotors do when they are out of the blower and bump against each other. It may be nothing, I just don't remember hear anything at all the two times I've and my blower off and when we had my sons off of his car last week.

I don't know. Evidently with a 3.1 and a new 650 belt I'm getting slip. Transmission whines and pretty loudly when it's cool ouside. Wife drove off in my car this morning and I could hear the whining above the exhaust.

Originally Posted by silverbullet

are you using napa belt? my belt was slipping with the 3.1., i was using gatorback belt at that time. lucky i bought napa belt from zzp. the car run fine now. i'm waiting for it to get little more warmer then i'm going back to dave and have him retune and hopeful i be able to use my 3.0 pulley that i have sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

Napa - Gates 650 is what was on there with the 3.1, when it was slipping. I have a 660 gatorback on there now with the 3.25 pulley.

I ordered a 3.5 tensioner pulley and a 660 Napa Gates belt today though. I'm about done messing with this though.

I did run with a 01 Vette yesterday and stayed with him, which made feel pretty good. The Vette is a 5.7 auto, that a good friend of mine (member here) was driving. Other than that, I'm getting a little tired of this car...I'll get over it though.

Originally Posted by IndeedSS

Wife drove off in my car this morning and I could hear the whining above the exhaust.

Sure it wasn't the wife?

Okay... moving along.

Originally Posted by Sabrewings

Sure it wasn't the wife?

Okay... moving along.

I'm lucky she doesn't complain about anything...and she really has reason to.

Originally Posted by Reptile

Putting pressure on any pulley system like that can put added stress on bearings. Is the clunking a loose "catching" feeling like when the coupler wears out? I don't see a tight belt doing any harm any farther down in the blower. I'd just guess at the snout end.

You may want to check your oil for shavings or something.

you hit the nail right on the head!

I guess it normal to hear the rotors clank a little when you rock the pulley back and forth by hand?

good to know.

Originally Posted by Toasty

eh... if it breaks..... one word...


WHIPPLE

uh...no.

Um, wouldn't a simple way to figure out if it's the belt or not is to just take the belt off for a while and see if the sound is still there? You won't get the boost, but you'll eliminate or know for sure if it's the belt.

Originally Posted by Deezul_AwT

Um, wouldn't a simple way to figure out if it's the belt or not is to just take the belt off for a while and see if the sound is still there? You won't get the boost, but you'll eliminate or know for sure if it's the belt.

I only heard or noticed the noise WITH THE BELT OFF while I was changing a pulley. I rotated the pulley back and forth by hand and could hear a clunk. The clunk sounded like the rotors trapping each other.

I was only wondering two things. First, if too tight of a belt would put unwanted stress on the s/c bearings to the point of causing damage. Secondly if it's normal to hear a little clunking when rocking the pulley by hand.

I did find out elsewhere that you should only run too small of a belt for a track run, and then put the right size back on for daily driving.

Originally Posted by Reptile

Lee, it almost sounds like the rotors may be going. Does the SC use any oil at all? A "little" play is normal as far as from one end of the rotor to the other, but that will go away once they slide into the case bearings. A side to side "clack" may pose a different problem. There really shouldn't be any clunk at all when you're moving the pulley back and forth.

arrgghhh. Then I have another problem. I'll have a look at the s/coil as soon as the blower cools down.

The s/c was still a little warm but when I gradually loosened the oil fill bolt there was pressure and fluid attempted to squirt out. SO the fluid is most likely full.
I removed the belt and again barely jiggled the pulley and could hear the clunking. As far as I can tell it's around the area where you install that green coupler thing ZZP sells. When I put the belt on and tried it there seems to be a little drag with the clunk. I guess I need to pull the snout and look for the problem area.

any other suggestions from those that rebuild these?