Serpentine Belt

[Ldub]

"On the initial examination we noticed the 'water pump wheel' was a little further towards the radiator than the rest..."

That would do it...


"also...I can't fully express how nice it is to have someone here to talk to."

No worries, I'm here on & off from midnight - 0800 central time, five nights a week (Fr - Tu)...

It gives me something to do at work...

[JNUVX]

Ack. So according to my mech, the water pump wheel would not go back into place and he didn't want to force it for fear of breaking anything. The wheel will have to be replaced...nooo! Anyone have ideas on where I could get a new water pump wheel??? Or if there's a fix someone knows of??

[Ldub]

If your VX is anywhere near 65-80 k on the odo, your timing belt is due to be replaced soon anyway, replace the water pump when that's done.
All the same stuff has to be removed either way...

[JNUVX]

I am in agreement w/you Ldub. After I looked at it this morning the mech said the cast aluminum water pulley bracket is what needs to be replaced (about $320 + shipping from Seattle, WA to Juneau, AK agh!). He was unable to realign the pulley and didn't want to force it for fear of breaking it entirely. It almost looks as if someone had done the timing belt and tried to remove the pulley attachment off the bracket....my mech also noted that this wasn't a recent change in pulley alignment which means i've been driving around w/a 3ridged serpentine belt instead of 5 ridges. Weird..and quite ignorant of me. Anyways, i'm hesitant to drive the vx anywhere until I get the bracket installed...I guess i'm learning the hard way. Anyone know of where to find a bracket for less? And again thanks ldub.

[PK]

Is it just me that is confused here?? (It wouldn't be the first time LOL.)

I always thought that our water pumps were driven by the timing belt, not the serpentine belt??
And if it is the timing belt they are talking about, then you certainly cannot see that.

Is this another case of "old timers disease"??

PK

[Ldub]

Is it just me that is confused here?? (It wouldn't be the first time LOL.)

I always thought that our water pumps were driven by the timing belt, not the serpentine belt??
And if it is the timing belt they are talking about, then you certainly cannot see that.

Is this another case of "old timers disease"??

PK

Yep, you are correct sir. It may be they're looking at the cooling fan drive,assuming that it's driving the water pump....

As far as I can see in Barts timing belt how to, it looks like the timing belt is driving the water pump, I botched that one...

JNUVX, take a look in the how to section & see what you think.

http://www.vehicross.info/misc/pdf_f...eplacement.pdf

If it's as you've described, you should be able to follow the how to to step 17 & have the source of your problems on the bench.

Sorry for the misinformation...

Good catch PK...

[etlsport]

i think the idler pulley may be the one in question here

its located right near the water pump (above the tensioner), I thought it was my water pump at first too..

[PK]

The thing that scares me, is that apparently his mechanic is calling it a water pump pulley.

If the mechanic doesn't know the engine well enough to know the difference - run brother, run.

Time to find a new mechanic.

PK

[JNUVX]

Hahaha Sorry Guys. I've been away from the computer...solstice plans had to be carried out in party all night running into the ocean fashion (and theres no cell reception out the road in Juneau). That being said, it wasn't my mechanic that called it a water pump wheel. That was a technical term I concocted because I don't know much of anything about engines. Anyways...the bracket is on the way. I ended up purchasing it for about $100 less than originally quoted from Isuzuparts.com and they split the shipping with me. Ldub, thanx for the link, I am still trying to find a moment to read through the write up. I hope my vx issue is corrected soon...I will keep ya'll updated. Thanks for bein there!

[Dare2Dream]

I'm on my sixth fan belt which I replaced last July. My first five belts were the stock Isuzu belt, ~$18-25. For my last belt I decided to try the Dayco Poly Rib belt since I was getting spark plugs at Advance Auto.

As the name suggests, it's not molded rubber ribs and grooves like all the others. When new, the grooves are just slight indentations. In just minutes it molds the ribs and grooves to your pulleys. So if anything is bent or out of line, it won't make any noise and allegedly runs quieter and cooler than other belts. The poly material will not crack like rubber belts. It was ~$30.

This is when new in July-


This is now after 19,000 miles-


Both sides of the belt look really good with no cracking. If ya wanna give it a try, Dayco #5060900.

BTW, it's not a bad idea to keep your old one in the VX as a spare.

Mark Griffin

Thanks Mark, looks very nice and the quieter/cooler feature sounds good! A couple of year back, the Gatorback belt was quite popular, is that not the case anymore?

Also, Ldub, the diagram you posted in the initial thread is not showing:

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...erpentine+belt

[Ldub]

Also, Ldub, the diagram you posted in the initial thread is not showing:

Thanx for the heads up...

I done fixeded it....

FWIW, I still find the gatorback belt to be VERY fasionable...

[JNUVX]

So I got the VX back today..i'll try and post a picture of the old fan bracket. The serp belt looks good, and all pulleys are aligned. However, (when I test drove the vx on sunday approx 2mi to see how it was driving after they put the old bracket back on. I noticed strong vibration around 3500 rpms). Now that the bracket has been replaced, vibration is virtually zero while driving. When I am stopped and in gear there is annoying vibration. When I am in park or in in neutral, the vibration is very low frequency and not as noticeable. I searched the forums..and have come up with the maybe the motor mounts need to be replaced? I have also looked at the engine while running, and it seems to be moving a little more than usual...i'm a bit worried and i'm going to keep driving the smartcar until i can get this durn thing resolved 100 percent. Help is very much appreciated..

[BeeVenom]

Gonna replace mine soon at around 40000. Suggest you purchase the Isuzu OEM belt as I did. They're not expensive and are not too difficult to replace. Just takes a little time.

[Bulldoggie]

Just want to comment that I just replaced mine and;
It is easy to change by hand if you are using the 5060900 size belt.
I was told that different numbers showed on their computers for the VX.
Of course I told them that all VX's are equiped the same.
My old belt had the 4060895 # and I could remove and reinstall by hand.
BUT I could not put a 4060895 NEW belt on by hand.
About 1/2 the thickness of the belt would not clear the last pully.
There is a 1/2" difference in length between the two belts.

[etlsport]

Just a word of caution..some of the new kevlar and other non rubber belts don't crack but they do still wear.

One of our suppliers gave us a few tools that looks like a toothpick that kinda measures how deep the grooves are in the belts. When they are too deep its time to replace.