Replacing alternator belt, How hard is it to do? Options

[914zim]

Dudes:

Well, so far my clutch replacement seems to be holding up. I actually got a little driving in last weekend! I tried to take the 914 into work today and I noticed a slight burning burning smell, but I wasn't sure if it was from my car (lots of traffic). I only made it about 2 miles before the "GEN", "CAT" and "EGR" lights came on. I quickly turned around and headed for home.

After work today, I found the belt wrapped around the pully on the engine. I've unwound it and am ready to replace it, but I was wondering how nasty of a job it is to replace. Wondering how to loosen the alternator in order to get the belt on. I did a quick search and didn't find anything right away.
Can I get the replacement belt an any FLAPS?
Any thoughts or comments from those who have done it would be appreciated! I was hoping to get this fixed quick and get back to driving before the snow starts flying!

Thanks,
Andy...

[Dave_Darling]

Get a replacement at most FLAPS, or at your favorite 914 specialty shop.

It's not hard--there should be two oval plastic covers plugged into the engine tin on the left-front corner of the motor, one facing forward and one facing left/up. Remove those to see the pinch bolt that you need to loosen. It should be an Allen bolt, I believe. Loosen it, swing the alternator up, hook the belt on, push the alternator down hard and tighten the bolt.

Other folks hook the belt as far around the alt as they can (after it's around the fan pulley), then push the car in gear to turn the motor and pull the belt on. I don't really trust that not to overstretch things, but others swear by it.

--DD

[SLITS]

Couple of skinned knuckles and a bit of swearing...not to bad

1. loosen 13mm pivot bolt from underneath

2. loosen hex head adjustor bolt thru engine tin (covered with the plastic thingys). I think its like a 5 mm hex

3. swing alt toward fan

4. Hard part is getting belt around fan as you can't see it

5. Belt goes around alt pulley (22 mm wrench to turn it) to make it easier.

6. Tension by pulling on alt thru other hole in engine tin (other hole covered with plastic thingy)

7. Tighten hex bolt

8. Tighten 13 mm under car

9. start engine and go

[brp914]

If you're '76 has air injection its a p.i.t.a. Dunno if air injection is CA only. Got a pump sitting on top of the fan house? If so, the air pulley has to come off first. Its bolted to the fan by 3 allen heads that are very difficult to access.

[Cap'n Krusty]

10mm x 965 mm, in case you're wondering .............. Just tell the FLAPS dude it fits a 72-79 VW Bus. The Cap'n

[914zim]

Thank you, Gentlemen!
I'll give it a try and see how far I get!
Andy

[ClayPerrine]

Make sure that you do what the Cap'n said. I tried to buy an alternator belt from Pep Boys one time. I told them that it was for a 74 Porsche, and they didn't even look. They just said "We don't have parts for Porsch". So I said "How about a belt for a 74 VW bus. He looked it up, and was able to pull it off the shelf. I then told him that the 914 and the VW bus used basically the same engine.


That's the same Pep Boys where I kept a parts guy looking for a water pump for a 914 for 20 minutes before his boss told him it was an air cooled car. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/lol2.gif)

[type47]

ohh, Clay, you're mean (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif) water pump for a 914! HA!

[tdgray]

Probably find that water pump on the shelf with muffler bearings (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[meares]

i need some muffler bearings too!!!! where can i find them?

[SLITS]

QUOTE (meares @ Sep 22 2005, 10:44 AM)

i need some muffler bearings too!!!! where can i find them?

Right behind the Johnson Rod.................

[914zim]

Hey guys:
I just come out of the garage after taking a look.
I'm not sure, but I can't see (with mirror) how to get the belt on the engine pulley.
I think I need to remove the air injection pulley (smaller one) and the mounting bracket and bolts before I can put the alternator belt around the larger engine pulley.
I guess if the injection pump was still installed, I'd have to remove that stuff first, so I could get the alternator belt on only to have to put it back on so I could install the injection pump pulley and it's belt. Am I following this correctly?
So, once I take the injection pulley and bracket off, I can leave it off since the injection pump is removed already?
Thanks again for clearing this up for me.
Andy...

[Dave_Darling]

Yup, you've got it! Remove the pulley and the pedastal mounted to the center of the fan, as well as the "tripod" (or does it have four feet?) support that goes across the fan opening. Then you can get the belt onto the fan pulley, no problem!

Keep the smog pulley and pump together--turn the pump every six months or so, just to make sure it still spins. (A little Marvel Mystery Oil probably couldn't hurt it!) E-bay it if you need money; some folks still need that original equipment to pass smog, and the pumps tend to seize after the drive belt "breaks accidentally" just after the smog test. And when the belt is replaced, the seized pump will tend to shear the rubber damper between the pulley and the fan...

--DD

[914zim]

Cool! Thanks Dave!

[Coolhandgoose]

Just got a 72 914. Belt snapped and I found this thread. Thanks for the tips fellas!

[iankarr]

Watch from 15:00 on…
https://youtu.be/7nyAJYLk2mU
Obviously gonna be trickier with engine in the car, but it’s not hard at all. And seeing the process outside of the car will help you during the “feel around” parts.

[Mikey914]

Ill PM you the latest.

[Shivers]

I’ve done it a few times in the car from the drivers side. I have carbs so once I got my shoulders in the engine compartment it was not bad at all.

[Jezibel]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif) Hey gents, my alternator V-belt is a bit loose. Enough so that when I start the car, the gen/alt light comes on and glows weakly. After a few minutes, however, the light goes out. I manually checked the belt and sure enough, it's a bit too loose (Toulouse?) when the engine is cold; when it warms up, the belt tightens just enough to extinguish the light. Common wisdom says: ADJUST THE HEX-HEADED BOLT AND ADJUST THE BELT TENSION.

OK, per the usual protocol, loosen the hex-headed carriage bolt on driver's left forward side of the engine and...here's where that formula falls flat on its face..."swing the alternator up, adjust belt, then swing the alt down to maintain tension (tightening that hex-headed bolt."

Sounds easy, eh? Problem is that my alternator still won't budge when I've loosened that hex-head bolt. Soooo, do I also have to loosen the other (bottom) bolt to move the alternator, or not, to get the nasty little thing (the alternator) to move freely?

This is perplexing. If anyone can shed some light on my 'refuses-to-budge' alternator problem, I'd be grateful! [The car is a '74 914-4 with 1.8 liter engine and dual Weber 40s.] Thanks. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hissyfit.gif)

[GregAmy]

Soooo, do I also have to loosen the other (bottom) bolt to move the alternator, or not, to get the nasty little thing (the alternator) to move freely?

Yes.

Fortunately, the head of the bolt is captured on the alternator, and all you'll need is to "assume the position" underneath with a 13mm socket on a swivel to get to the nut. Then leverage the alternator belt tighter, tighten the socket head up top, then get underneath and tighten the 13mm nut.

Good luck. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)