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How tight should the fan belt be?
- Thread starter Patton
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Patton
Jedi Warrior
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I see what you mean. To restate and elaborate
My car is running a coupe of degrees warmer than I think that it should. On a 90 degree day I am running between 195 and 200 degrees.
I am checking the small things that I can first, before doing something drastic like pulling the radiator. One of those things is to make sure that the fan belt is tight to ensure that it is not slipping.
My question is how tight. I know that Norman Nock warns of over tightening as it will damage the drive end of the generator. The fan belt is in the car now so that I can barely turn the fan by hand without the belt moving. I am trying to find out if that is too loose, or should I tighten it more.
On a related note, the PO put the antifreeze in the car that is in there now. The color of the mixture is very, very green. I think that the mixture may have too much antifreeze v water. Is there a way to tell. Here in Houston, my garage will never see temperatures below freezing, so I think about a 30% mixture is probably good.
Since I have gotten the car, I have only driven it in this general area. It has been on two trips over 50 miles, but both had a couple of stops and I never was more than 10 miles from home.
Tomorrow morning, I am planning on driving it into Houston to the GCHC breakfast meeting. It will be the first time I have ever had the car around any other Healey folks. It's 35 miles from here and I am very nervous about this trip as I won't have a safety net if something goes wrong. I still haven't decided if I should do the highway or the back streets. The back streets will make it an hour to drive, and the highway is 35 minutes.
The car has yet to give me any reason to worry, with the exception of a couple of electrical gremlins, but I'm still anxious about the whole thing.
My car is running a coupe of degrees warmer than I think that it should. On a 90 degree day I am running between 195 and 200 degrees.
I am checking the small things that I can first, before doing something drastic like pulling the radiator. One of those things is to make sure that the fan belt is tight to ensure that it is not slipping.
My question is how tight. I know that Norman Nock warns of over tightening as it will damage the drive end of the generator. The fan belt is in the car now so that I can barely turn the fan by hand without the belt moving. I am trying to find out if that is too loose, or should I tighten it more.
On a related note, the PO put the antifreeze in the car that is in there now. The color of the mixture is very, very green. I think that the mixture may have too much antifreeze v water. Is there a way to tell. Here in Houston, my garage will never see temperatures below freezing, so I think about a 30% mixture is probably good.
Since I have gotten the car, I have only driven it in this general area. It has been on two trips over 50 miles, but both had a couple of stops and I never was more than 10 miles from home.
Tomorrow morning, I am planning on driving it into Houston to the GCHC breakfast meeting. It will be the first time I have ever had the car around any other Healey folks. It's 35 miles from here and I am very nervous about this trip as I won't have a safety net if something goes wrong. I still haven't decided if I should do the highway or the back streets. The back streets will make it an hour to drive, and the highway is 35 minutes.
The car has yet to give me any reason to worry, with the exception of a couple of electrical gremlins, but I'm still anxious about the whole thing.
Offline
[ QUOTE ]
My question is how tight. I know that Norman Nock warns of over tightening as it will damage the drive end of the generator. The fan belt is in the car now so that I can barely turn the fan by hand without the belt moving. I am trying to find out if that is too loose, or should I tighten it more.
On a related note, the PO put the antifreeze in the car that is in there now. The color of the mixture is very, very green. I think that the mixture may have too much antifreeze v water. Is there a way to tell. Here in Houston, my garage will never see temperatures below freezing, so I think about a 30% mixture is probably good.
[/ QUOTE ]
Hi,
I think Norman is correct. I would set the belt tension to have about 3/4" deflection between fan pulley & generator pulley with moderate finger pressure. How much the fan belt slips depends upon tension, friction of the belt (is it shiney glazed & hard) & how well the belt cross section profile matches the pulleys. The "cogged" belts have more grip for the same tension & are available.
Actually the fan is only needed at road speeds below 40 mph or so, & slip would only cause problems in around town driving. I have a six blade flex fan that can be turned by moderate hand pressure on the blades. (engine stopped) It works well in stop & go driving. Cooling is also fine at road speeds. BTW - 200 degrees is no cause for alarm.
You can get a coolant tester for a couple of dollars, floating ball type. 30% antifreeze will protect down to about +5 degrees & should give adequate corrosion protection & water pump lubrication. The typical floating ball tester would show two balls floating at 30%. It would show 4 or 5 balls floating at 50% mixture for protection down to -35 degrees. Reducing the percentage will help heat transfer & cooling.
If your mix is 50% now, drain out two quarts of coolant & replace with water. This should take you from a 50% mix to about 33%.
I have found that "Redline Water Wetter" reduces engine temps by about 5 degrees. I'm mainly using it for additional corrosion protection of my aluminum head.
A few years ago I felt like you. Was nervous about getting too far from home. After many short drives with no problems, the equivalent of a very long drive, I will now take the car as far as I want to go, no worries. It takes a while to build up confidence in the car.
D
My question is how tight. I know that Norman Nock warns of over tightening as it will damage the drive end of the generator. The fan belt is in the car now so that I can barely turn the fan by hand without the belt moving. I am trying to find out if that is too loose, or should I tighten it more.
On a related note, the PO put the antifreeze in the car that is in there now. The color of the mixture is very, very green. I think that the mixture may have too much antifreeze v water. Is there a way to tell. Here in Houston, my garage will never see temperatures below freezing, so I think about a 30% mixture is probably good.
[/ QUOTE ]
Hi,
I think Norman is correct. I would set the belt tension to have about 3/4" deflection between fan pulley & generator pulley with moderate finger pressure. How much the fan belt slips depends upon tension, friction of the belt (is it shiney glazed & hard) & how well the belt cross section profile matches the pulleys. The "cogged" belts have more grip for the same tension & are available.
Actually the fan is only needed at road speeds below 40 mph or so, & slip would only cause problems in around town driving. I have a six blade flex fan that can be turned by moderate hand pressure on the blades. (engine stopped) It works well in stop & go driving. Cooling is also fine at road speeds. BTW - 200 degrees is no cause for alarm.
You can get a coolant tester for a couple of dollars, floating ball type. 30% antifreeze will protect down to about +5 degrees & should give adequate corrosion protection & water pump lubrication. The typical floating ball tester would show two balls floating at 30%. It would show 4 or 5 balls floating at 50% mixture for protection down to -35 degrees. Reducing the percentage will help heat transfer & cooling.
If your mix is 50% now, drain out two quarts of coolant & replace with water. This should take you from a 50% mix to about 33%.
I have found that "Redline Water Wetter" reduces engine temps by about 5 degrees. I'm mainly using it for additional corrosion protection of my aluminum head.
A few years ago I felt like you. Was nervous about getting too far from home. After many short drives with no problems, the equivalent of a very long drive, I will now take the car as far as I want to go, no worries. It takes a while to build up confidence in the car.
D
tahoe healey
Yoda
Offline
The Nocks (there are two of them, Dave and his dad, Norman) state that the temp gauge in our Healeys is almost always off and to use a kitchen therometer in the filler port to check it after reaching normal running temps. Apparently, hot is better until you over heat.
Keoke
Great Pumpkin
Offline
AH Patton, Thats much better. I think Dave covered the slice pretty well.However, I would recommend that you get and install the Texas Cooler fan as soon as you can. Driving in temperatures of 90-to-110deg ambient requires that you move a lot of air even at speed. Another method of establishing the coolent to water ratio at 30% is to simply drain and flush the cooling system and then add a Gal of Prestone and refil the rest of the system with water. Well Dave how do we know what the PO put in the cooling system it could be Mickey Mouses best but I would rather spend the $ on a good known product and forget the tester.,system should be flushed and refilled every two years anyway right!
Patton you wil probably see a lot of texas cooler fans at the breakfast and get more pointers on keeping things cool down there. But take the shortest route to the affair and the long way home-FWIW---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Patton you wil probably see a lot of texas cooler fans at the breakfast and get more pointers on keeping things cool down there. But take the shortest route to the affair and the long way home-FWIW---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Offline
[ QUOTE ]
Well Dave how do we know what the PO put in the cooling system it could be Mickey Mouses best but I would rather spend the $ on a good known product and forget the tester.,system should be flushed and refilled every two years anyway right!
[/ QUOTE ]
Well golly - gee,
If it's green & clean it's got to be good, right?
I know the conventional theories about replacing coolant frequently. Not sure if they are valid. IF I am entitled to more than a few crazy ideas, I have a Ford truck, bought new in 1984, that has NEVER had the coolant, thermostat, or hoses changed. The radiator tubes don't look corroded or plugged, nothing leaks, & it runs the same temperatures as originally. Coolant is still green & clean. Has air conditioning too. I did replace the belts once. Course it only has 140,000 miles on it so maybe my neglect will catch up with me some day. However I still feel confident enough to drive it on a 2000 mile trip.
Same thing for the brakes. Same original fluid. Replaced the front pads once though, original rear shoes.
In 45 years of car ownership I have never periodically replaced coolant or brake fluid. I'll probably NOT go to heaven because of my unrepented sins.
D /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif
Well Dave how do we know what the PO put in the cooling system it could be Mickey Mouses best but I would rather spend the $ on a good known product and forget the tester.,system should be flushed and refilled every two years anyway right!
[/ QUOTE ]
Well golly - gee,
If it's green & clean it's got to be good, right?
I know the conventional theories about replacing coolant frequently. Not sure if they are valid. IF I am entitled to more than a few crazy ideas, I have a Ford truck, bought new in 1984, that has NEVER had the coolant, thermostat, or hoses changed. The radiator tubes don't look corroded or plugged, nothing leaks, & it runs the same temperatures as originally. Coolant is still green & clean. Has air conditioning too. I did replace the belts once. Course it only has 140,000 miles on it so maybe my neglect will catch up with me some day. However I still feel confident enough to drive it on a 2000 mile trip.
Same thing for the brakes. Same original fluid. Replaced the front pads once though, original rear shoes.
In 45 years of car ownership I have never periodically replaced coolant or brake fluid. I'll probably NOT go to heaven because of my unrepented sins.
D /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif
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