At 02:47 PM 1/15/00 +1100, Neil Cotty wrote:
>
>My MGA has developed a squeak, .... The fanbelt is squeaking, .... it's a
new fanbelt. Is there such a thing as fanbelt lubricant? My mechanic has
used that before on my 626 so I guess there is. What should I look for at
the shops? The adjustment appears ok, about 1/2" deflection in the belt.
There is something called belt dressing, rather like a sticky resin to
apply to the belt, usually in aerosol form these days. However, you should
not need this product. A new belt should not squeak (even if you may have
converted to an alternator). The generator has a generous size pulley, and
it's only pushing out about 20 amps on the high end, so not much power is
required through the belt to drive lt. A squeaking belt may be an
indication of a bad (out of adjustment or stuck) voltage regulator, which
may be causing the system to overcharge. This could result in the
destruction of the generator, the voltage regulator, or the battery. Check
the voltage output, especially at high speed.
You're right that 1/2" deflection in the belt is good. Too much tension on
the belt can overload the bearings in the generator and water pump, which
could lead to premature failure (like in less than 40 years). Having in
recent years broken the generating mounting ears off of two aftermarker
aluminum water pumps, I have more recently cleaned and painted and
transfered the cast iron water pump from my #1 engine (250,000 miles total
including one complete rebuild) to my #2 engine (another 55,000 miles so
far) and that water pump is still going strong. Generators OTOH are a
little more demanding of periodic maintainance, but I have only once had a
front ball bearing fail, and that without any notice. I think that was due
to the bearing cage falling apart, not the ball bearing wearing out. Take
it easy on belt tension.
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg
|