Hello all, My 88' F-150 300 six 4.9 keeps chewing up serpentine belts. I thought I had solved the issue when I discovered that the tensioner had cracked. So I bought a new one from Ford to make sure it was a quality part. Now the belt is once again half it's size in width. It looks like the power steering pulley may not be forward enough but hard to tell. Has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks

Scott in Dallas

 

Something is not aligned properly. Without pic we wont be able to help.

 

Grab the cooling fan and try to shake it front to back. I had the problem of the belt always running off one rib and i finally discovered my water pump bearing was loose. This was on my '88 with the 4.9 engine.

 

Where in Dallas are you? I'm out and about today and I might be able to swing by and look - or at least take and post pictures.

Yes, improperly installed (too far in or out) power steering pulleys can be a problem.

 

How is your crank pulley? I was losing belts getting damaged also. Replaced idler pulley and alignment was bad. Noticed crank pulley with wobble. Replaced it and all came together nice.

 

I'm at Preston and Royal. I replied to you right after you I received you email. Unfortunately, it was on my cell phone. I did not realize a reply would not go through unless you were actually ON this site. Anyway, thanks for the offer It there a way to move the power steering pulley in, or out a bit? looks pressed on...

Best Regards, Scott

 

The PS pulley is pressed on, and you'd need a PS pulley tool to do it correctly. Most auto parts stores rent them, so you won't need to buy one. They look like this:

OEM/Pulley puller installer kit 27031 at AutoZone.com - 1 reviews

 

I happened to be in the area, so I dropped in and met Scott. Nice guy. I happened to be coming back from the Dallas motorcycle show, so I had my little field pocket camera with me.

In any case, here's the story as I heard it/recall it. The power steering pump was installed six months prior to the truck sitting up for two years for reasons not related to the truck itself. Apparently ever since the power steering pump was installed, it's destroyed/ejected belts.

Scott had already checked for crank pulley and cooling fan wobble and found none before I got there. I looked at it and it looked like the power steering pulley was in fact misaligned with the rest of the pulleys by about 1/8-1/4" or so.

On all the other pulleys save the power steering one, the rear of the belt is flush with the back of the pulley, as it should be. It's the frontmost rib of the belt that's disappeared.


On the power steering pulley, the ragged edge where the front rib is hard up against the front of the pulley and the rearmost groove of the pulley is exposed. In this configuration the belt is more or less straight through its run, but obviously this isn't good.



You can tell by eye that the pulley is not aligned with the others on the front of the engine. However, the pulley itself seems to be flush with the front of the pump's driveshaft.



I am not familiar enough with the older power steering pump to say that it's safe to align it by pulling it out so that the shaft is (relatively) recessed in the pulley or even if that's the correct pump. Perhaps the replacement pump's shaft is too short? The bracket did not seem to be damaged or bent and it doesn't look like anyone 'shimmed' the pump back that I could tell. I have no idea, hopefully someone else can help Scott out here now that I've got some pictures up for him.

 

Looks like the pulley was pressed on too far. When installing, a measurement should be taken from a good reference point on the old pulley, and the new one should be installed to the same depth.

Using that tool I posted, he should be able to pull that pulley out a bit so it's aligned with the others.

 

Edited to remove an incorrect observation.

For what it is worth, I'm in Denton and last time I replaced my vacuum pump (seems to be a yearly task) I kept the 'rented' tool. You are welcomed to borrow it.

 

Hello all, I thought I would post a follow up to the problem I was having with the serpentine belt situation. As "Spktyr" and Bob Gervias suggested/pointed out, the pulley had been pressed on too far. I, nor anyone else I know, have ever know about such a thing. I have owned many, many, antique cars and trucks over the years, and normally you just press the pulley home and your done.

What I did is measure how much of the belt I had recently put on had shredded from the edge. I then bought a puller/installer and pulled the pulley out to the measurement I had determined. It is now the 6th of March and the new belt I put on after the adjustment is running true and my problem appears to be fixed. I would like to give out a special thanks to "Spktyr" for taking the time to actually come by my work and take a look at the truck and take a few photographs, so it could be posted on this site. Hopefully this post will help someone else, as I have no doubt it will happen to someone else. I will never understand why Ford did not use a spacer or washer behind the pulley so a measurement before removing would not be necessary. It's little things like this that give the GM guys ammunition.

Anyway, Thanks all, and happy motoring

Scott in Dallas

 

Leo, I didn't get a chance to Thank You for your kind offer! You are indeed a true Gentleman. I decided to just buy one so I would have it in the future. I graduated from UNT so I have a special love for Denton! Great little town

Best Regards,

Scott in Dallas