c4-toy

Well it happened to me this past weekend... was driving and suddenly a strong burnt rubber smell and then a "pop!". Dash lit up like an xmas tree. Scared the ^#%# out of me, i thought the engine was on fire. Pulled over, opened hatch and saw mangled pieces of belt all over the place. Luckily i was only few blocks from home and was able to drive it.
Anyway, i searched the posts and found a lot of helpful info on replacing it myself. I will attempt it this weekend. All i need is to find this "special tool". Anyone have a picture of it? I dont see anything in the toolkit that look like would do the job of holding the alternator shaft while removing the pully.
Also, i had replaced all 3 belts about 3 years ago and 5000 miles from the dealer. Any help would be appreciated. Thx Joe B. 96 C4 Cab.

whidbey

I think you need one of these.
fan pulley wrench 999-571-052-02-OEM
http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...pg3.htm#item17

Basal Skull

Hi you need a 12 point allen type tool to hold the alternator shaft (fits into the alternator shaft). I found one that works at the local parts store - on the "special" tools shelf - I think it is a VW tool - they had a couple of sizes and the smaller one fits and works fine.

Good luck

Robin 993DX

If your belt slipped and made a lot of squealing sound before it broke I would suggest you replace the pulley halves while you are at it. Most likly the pulley halves are polished shinny by the belt and will cause the new belt to slip and burn up.

Brett - 1996 C4

Also, there is a service bulletin out on that pulley. Mine was a '96 and didn't have the upgraded (Turbo) pulley and I went through several alternator belts before replacing the pulley. If yours is a '96, I suspect you don't have the new one either. The new one has a kind of yellowish (chromate) finish, whereas I recall the old one was silver.

HTH,

Brett

Basal Skull

Well, went outside to my car to look at what I had and it's not as straight forward as I made out. I remember now that the tool that I found at the local parts store had a longer shaft and would not fit into the space between the alternator shaft and back of the engine bay and I had to cut the end off. A 13 mm wrench happened to fit the end and I could get it to work....

here's some pics (sorry about it being out of focus)

JasonAndreas

Most local auto-parts stores sell the 10mm 12 point, triple square. Snap-On sells them for $26.50USD and Lisle (sold everywhere including Sears, part #60750) makes a four-pack (6, 8, 10 & 12mm) that sells for around $10USD. The Lisle tool is probably what Basal purchased. The Porsche tool is just as long as the Snap-on tool (I just tried all three) but my engine is not in the car so I don't know if it will fit when you add in the size of your ratchet. And don't forget to pick up a Gates V-belt tension tester ($9ish) so you can check the tension with a cold and (most importantly) warm engine.

Dudley

I got my triple square at Napa.

Davies

Also, something to note when replacing your fan belt, is that overtightening it can actually bend a 993 alternator shaft.

The net effect of which, is you will break belts constantly - until you've replaced the alternator.

kdorsey

I just went throught the same thing. Like previously mentioned, buy your 12 point tool from a local parts store. I found mine at AutoZone ...a whole set cost about $13.00 (you only need the 10mm one). It's more heavy-duty than the Porsche tool and is designed for a boxend wrench. That will help you apply even pressure while removing and retightening; something you'll appreciate later.

Once I had the belts and tool, I thought I'd spend 30 minutes in a typical belt replacement job. WRONG!!! Come to find out that some nimrod before me used an allen wrench/screwdriver/*insert wrong tool here* to hold the alternator shaft, nearly completely stripping it. Using a mirror to survey the damage, my heart sank thinking I had to replace the alternator. After taking a moment to relax and drink a beer (sometimes the best ideas come this way), I figured that I'd try to drive the tool into the shaft with force in hopes of deburring it and salvage the project. But, there was hardly enough room to insert the tool, much less swing a hammer behind it. So I cut the remaining alternator belt (but nicely removed the AC belt) and followed the procedure at P-Car.com, stopping short of removal of the alternator. I only wanted to loosen it enough to prop it up and hammer the tool in...which, btw, worked perfectly! I properly aligned the tool into the jounals of the shaft and repeated the process several times to bore out the boogered metal. After reassembly, the tool worked perfectly and set the stage for a simple process the next time.

Be sure to completely document/bag/tag the shims for the pulleys. That's how the tension is maintained so, lose a shim and you over tighten the belt.

Also, try to determine why the belt broke. Normal wear? Unless it has 50k miles on it, I doubt it. I found my problem when the belt light came on. After opening the boot, I found the inside alternator belt was inverted, but otherwise still working. The belt follower was getting the snot thrashed out ot it too. Upon inspection back at home, there was a trough worn out ot the top side of the belt where the follower touched the belt. Since the follower was worn down to the small metal bearing housing, it was turning too many RPMs and caused it to fail, causing the follower wheel to rub against the belt, grinding down the top. The imbalace caused by the loss of material helped inertia rotate the heavy part of the belt to the outside. And $55 later, that too was replaced.

Felix

Hate to say it but hammering the tool into the unsupported alternator shaft probably didn't do the bearings any good. Keep an eye on them in the future.

tj90

Put a rag under the alternator shaft so yo dont lose anything while you work. Also, make sure you are 100% sober when doing the job! - you need to put the spacers back on exactly the way you found them. I had to take the split pulley apart multiple times to get belt tension correct - and I did not have a drop to drink - I was second guessing the PO and thinking that the spacers were not correct.

I bought my V-belt tensioner tool at Napa. It was around 10 bucks and invaluable in insuring belt tension was correct.

I also cut down my Lisle 12 point tool like described above. It worked very well.

There are 3 allens in there somewhere. I believe they hold the inner pulley on? If you have to loosen them, DO NOT overtorque them - they have thinner than average bolt heads and they easily strip. I tried using replacement metric bolts and the outer pulley was not lined up correctly. The thin bolt heads definitely insure correct belt alignment!

polver

You have little to lose since you are already down for the count. But, I didn't listen to the DIY warnings and didn't bother to buy replacement panhead screws. Wouldn't you know it, some A-hole put them back in stripped. So I had the joy of putting everything back together and starting over another day after they came in. Good luck.

c4-toy

Thanks for all the replies, you guys are great help. I will give it a shot. I will also replace the pulley, why chance it. The only other concern is what can happen with the fan belt since it too was replaced at the same time the alternator and a/c belt was, that was about 5k miles and 3 years ago. I guess there is no preventative measures or inspections that can be done for the fan belt.- Joe

c4-toy

Hi guys few more quick questions about replacing this...
1) what is part number for the new upgraded (Turbo) pulley that Brett mentions above ? i want to make sure i order the correct one from Pelican Parts.
2) Do i have to order the shims or can i use the ones i already have?
3) Pelican has an "inside" belt and an "outside" belt, i assume alternator is the "outside" belt.
4) Pelican salesman also mentioned if i needed the belt sensor? not sure exactly what that is.