90loyaledasher Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 First post, and not very experienced with forums so I apologize if not in proper place. Replaced the water pump on my girlfriend's ea82 3at loyale with ac, and in my haste to disassemble and replace the failed water pump i did not pay close enough attention to how the alternator belt was tensioned/aligned. Ac belt is tight enough however i cant get enough adjustment out of alternator as i run into the ac compressor while trying to get tension on the belt that turns alternator. Does anyone have pictures of an ea82 with ac on battery side of alternator for reference, or know a trick to getting it tight? It shredded the belt tonight after about 375 miles and I want to put it back together properly this time. If anyone has any experience or insight it would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 was the belt ancient, stretched, or the wrong part number? There’s at least two different EA82 AC set ups, you might want to post a pic or link to a google image search showing what you have and how you’ve got it set up. at the minimum - is your AC compressor on the outside or inside of the alternator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90loyaledasher Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 The alternator is inside the ac. From drivers fender it goes battery, ac, alternator. It was the shorter of the two belts. It was on the car for about 3 days. Just waking up and I'll go take some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90loyaledasher Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 Pictures of current situation. https://photos.app.goo.gl/6BDq3uFR8rcpd6ML8 https://photos.app.goo.gl/k3QFw1RJurThfQwi7 https://photos.app.goo.gl/AvGLFbwp2oqaLuARA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee2 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 could be the belt you're using because of the cross section not fitting the pulley correctly. here's a couple of old threads talking about belts and other common problems. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90loyaledasher Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 I got the ac belt on and it looks titties, nice and tight, however the alternator belt wont tension more due to bracket hitting ac compressor. And I cant stretch that ac belt anymore. The bracket with the square hole in it is the issue currently. Is this mounted properly? https://photos.app.goo.gl/MNjyn6wg6KrxFrhs5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee2 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 (edited) 54 minutes ago, 90loyaledasher said: I got the ac belt on and it looks titties, nice and tight, however the alternator belt wont tension more due to bracket hitting ac compressor. And I cant stretch that ac belt anymore. The bracket with the square hole in it is the issue currently. Is this mounted properly? https://photos.app.goo.gl/MNjyn6wg6KrxFrhs5 That looks correct. Below is a picture of mine. As I recall, at one point I lengthened the slot on the rear bracket on the AC so the AC could be pushed away from the alternator. This made more room for the alternator. You may need to do something like that if you can't find a belt to work. If you're not using the full length of the slot now, then the AC belt may be too short pulling the AC too close to the alternator. Edited May 9, 2020 by Dee2 more info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90loyaledasher Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 I have more room to pull the ac towards fender on the bracket, my concern was getting the belt that runs the ac too tight. You have a lot more clearance between your alternator bracket and your ac compressor than me. I wonder if my alternator needs to come forward 1/4 inch for the bracket to clear the lip on the side of the ac? On a side note I love this little car it shredded the belt so alternator stopped spinning but not water pump, every light came on on the dash, but it still drove 15 miles on the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee2 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 2 hours ago, 90loyaledasher said: I have more room to pull the ac towards fender on the bracket, my concern was getting the belt that runs the ac too tight. You have a lot more clearance between your alternator bracket and your ac compressor than me. I wonder if my alternator needs to come forward 1/4 inch for the bracket to clear the lip on the side of the ac? On a side note I love this little car it shredded the belt so alternator stopped spinning but not water pump, every light came on on the dash, but it still drove 15 miles on the battery. Trying to move things forward or back would likely cause alignment problems with the belt. You'll have to play with combination of belts and brackets to get the clearances to where they need to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 I had one of them like this. I had to try like 3 belts before I ended up with the right one. Unfortunately, it was long ago that I no longer have the numbers. All the rest of my similar cars have the other AC system. Anyway, get the longest belt that will still get tight for the AC compressor. Then you should have room to get the alternator belt tight. The sizes must be exactly the right belt. One size up or down it won't work one way or the other. I also remember filing one of the adjuster slots just a bit longer, to get just a bit more tension.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 That is one dodgy looking AC add on! Ours over here had the AC then Alt going out from the crank. I reckon you need the standard water pump and alt belt. Going for the “stock” water pump and Alt with AC will be far too long. All the best with it! Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 Good job posting the pictures. That add-on unit isn't going to be very typical of Subaru. Did you look in the owners manual? Do you know the part number of the old belt or if it was a standard length belt for that vehicle? Is this a length or alignment issue or both? Get a shorter belt if it's too long and you're running out of adjustment space. If reliability is an issue and you need this car to run - get two belts so you have a back up if you suspect possible alignment issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90loyaledasher Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Not sure if it's original the part numbers on old belts were pretty legible. https://photos.app.goo.gl/s9vVvo2wNFgsmjFBA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee2 Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 4 hours ago, 90loyaledasher said: Not sure if it's original the part numbers on old belts were pretty legible. https://photos.app.goo.gl/s9vVvo2wNFgsmjFBA Just eyeballing those belts they look too wide. Meaning they won't sit down in the pulley correctly, Might explain why your belts are shredding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90loyaledasher Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Noticed an uneven wear pattern on the belt it threw off, would the alternator not being in line with the rest of the pulleys cause this? https://photos.app.goo.gl/cnvFv3QWuXWHaan57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee2 Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 1 hour ago, 90loyaledasher said: Noticed an uneven wear pattern on the belt it threw off, would the alternator not being in line with the rest of the pulleys cause this? https://photos.app.goo.gl/cnvFv3QWuXWHaan57 It could be the cause. But, if the belt doesn't fully seat in the pulley, it can move side to side and that could be the cause as well. Once it starts wearing unevenly, it's doomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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