Dwight Lindsey Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 Absent a routing diagram for the belt, can someone tell me which direction the pulleys move? When looking at the pulleys from the back of the coach, do they all spin the same way? Clockwise or counter clockwise, when viewed from the back of the coach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 No, they don't all spin the same way. The water pump is smooth, the back of belt rides on the water pump. The alternator and fan pulleys are both grooved, the ribbed side rides on those. Sammy will know all that, the water pump being driven by the back of the belt has been done by cummins decades and many small cars also. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Lindsey Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 (edited) Thanks Benjamin: I couldn't read the pulley labels on the routing diagrams that Richard sent, so I just did a google image search and found an original image that is slightly higher in resolution, I can barely the labels, but I can read them and now that I can read the labels on the pulleys in the diagram, I realized that the water pump must rotate the opposite direction. The fact that it must be the smooth side of the belt surprised me, so I'm glad to have your confirmation on that. I feel more confident now. If the AC clutch can be freed up and the pulley spins, we'll get this done and get home. Thanks everyone for the help, very kind and helpful as always Dwight Edited March 9 by Dwight Lindsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) Agree, if compressor is locked up just unplug the wires on the clutch so it doesn't engage, should be good to go. Not sure how many positions the idler pulley can be moved to or if it can be moved in our application. I did a bunch of searches on how to by pass alternator, if that was your problem and I found none. Is there a documented method to bypass, can someone post, wouldn't be a bad idea to have this in my files if it is possible. Edited March 9 by jacwjames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Lindsey Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 I unplugged the alternator this morning and the pulley does not turn. Sammy thinks the bearing is seized up. I have an appointment with Sammy today at 1:30 PM and he'll try to get a belt on the water pump, fan and alternator. I bought all the belts I could find yesterday in San Felipe and if the 69.5 or 70 inch belt won't drive those three things, maybe one of the shorter ones can drive just the water pump and fan. There is some chance we'll get this fixed at least enough to drive, today. We won't actually drive today, because I won't chance driving or potentially getting stranded on these narrow roads after dark. If we get the water pump and fan working today, we'll drive North tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) Bypassing the alternator AND the AC compressor would be a complete cobble job. I'm not saying impossible, but sketchy. Rigging a new mount for the idler would be relatively easy if the AC OR the alternator pulley is spinning freely, because the idler is only putting some side pressure on the belt if you can get the length close, whereas with the idler replacing both the pulleys it's taking 2x the tension of the belt, and if it's not aligned close it will jump off. That's quite a wrench to throw in the gears if both the alternator and AC pulley are locked up. I'd be driving back with the alternator to get it rebuilt or a replacement, or both. Sure would have been nice to know that from the start, but I suppose if you find one locked, you might not keep looking. Highly unusual to have two lock up at the same time. Can you confirm the ALTERNATOR and AC compressor are both locked up? If it's still just the AC, then you should be good to go. Unless Sammy turned on the engine before checking the pulleys, there's no reason the clutch would be engaged. If he doesn't have the tools to pull the clutch, leave it for now. The other belt should be the right one. Edited March 9 by Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Lindsey Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 If I can find them, I'll get a replacement air conditioner compressor and a spare, as well as a spare alternator to keep in the coach. And of course spare belts. If we were in the U.S. when these things broke, it would be relatively simple to get towed to a truck shop. Here, we're a long ways from anywhere. We like Baja, we'll be back and I'll be more prepared. In the specific situation I'm in, a spare belt would not have solved the problem. I now have a lot of belts of different lengths and if we find one that works to bypass the AC . . . I'll keep a spare of that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 I edited my post, and might have been typing at the same time you were. Can you confirm the ALTERNATOR and AC compressor are both locked up? If it's still just the AC, then you should be good to go. Unless Sammy turned on the engine before checking the pulleys, there's no reason the clutch would be engaged. If he doesn't have the tools to pull the clutch, leave it for now. The other belt should be the right one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Lindsey Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 I doubt the alternator is locked up. As previously said it would be unusual for both to lock up at the same time. We'll see this afternoon. I now have a high resolution copy of the diagram and I do see that bypassing the AC and the alternator seems impossible. I just loaded it here, see below, and it's low resolution again. I'll try to post it to the files section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Lindsey Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 We got a belt on, bypassing the AC compressor. It works. I did a long test drive this morning around Bahia de Los Angles and then we headed up the mountain and North to Rancho Grande on Bahia San Luis Gonzaga. About 3.5 hours driving with no issues. The belt is working! We'll stay here two nights and then head to Pete's Camp in San Felipe. The compressor failure caused us to spend 3 extra unplanned nights in that beautiful place, parked right on the beach. We did need to drive a long way to get the belts, but other than that the delay was not a problem, we like that place When we got to the AutoZone in San Felipe to buy the belts, I bought many belts, not knowing exactly which one would fit. The 69.5 and 70 inch belts did not fit. 72 or 73 inch would have worked but I didn't buy those . . . By changing the routing, my Son-In-Law made an 80 inch belt work Now, when I get back home, I have to sort out how to get the AC fixed Dwight 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 Glad you got it fixed. I was worried that the engine overheating might have caused a problem but if you drove for 3.5 hours you are probably OK. Still keep an eye on coolant level for the next little bit. Safe Travels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Lindsey Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 Jim: I added a couple of gallons of water to the overflow tank. Engine temp has been fine today. I have a planned coolant change anyway, so I'll drain and fill soon. Dwight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Lindsey Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 Thanks everyone for the help on this. We arrived safely home with the temporary serpentine belt bypassing the AC compressor. A local RV repair facility is going to replace the AC compressor. All things considered, this all worked out very well. When we drove to Bahia de Los Angeles in Baja, we were driving on very narrow roads and very long stretches with no shoulder, no pull outs and no services. We were very fortunate that the belt did not break on one of those long stretches. It broke as we were leaving town and we could easily get back to the campground on the beach, and to the auto repair shop, a couple of miles at a time with cooling off periods. It was a very long drive about 3.5 hours each way in a Jeep to get the new belt. We went to the Autozone in San Felipe and I bought ALL the belts, one of which we used. We returned the others for a full refund. All in all, a very good result. Thanks again for all the help. I learned a lot. Dwight 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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