Last fall, before putting Fiona up for the winter, I was getting a bit of belt-squeak, usually when I downshifted. It usually went away quickly.

Now when i drive, around 2K RPM, I get a near-constant belt squeal. it's hard to tell precisely which pully is slipping, as I must be driving the car to invoke the noise.

Can I use some sort of belt dressing to alleviate the noise, or is changing out the belt my only option? When i eyeballed it in the fall it looked pretty good still... If I have to swap it, do I need any special tools to set the belt tension properly? I have a Hayne's book but didn't see anything after a quick read-through, but may have missed it.

Thanks in advance as always!!

 

The belt gets hot when this happens and sooner than later if you let it go the belt gets cooked and will snap, leaving you with no electricity and water circulation. Even if you can keep the engine firing on the battery you will overheat.

Whats especially bad about it is that the temp gage says your still good but its possible that deep inside the engine you really did overheat but the sending unit never saw the overheated water.

If yours is like mine you should be able to just loosen the alternator bolts and pull it tight. While you have the bolts loose I'd check to see if the alternator and the water pump pulleys turn smoothly. One of the bearings could be going bad causing the belt to slip.

It's not a difficult job and the belt is probably like 7 bucks at any napa. That belt dressing is just a band aid and probably costs just as much as a new belt that short. If you change the belt you probably wan to re-tension it after a little bit of driving because they will stretch some.

 

concur

once the belt has slipped for very long it will glaze over and there's not much else you can do to fix the problem.

a temp fix/belt dressing is to simply use a bar of soap. hold the bar against the back side of the belt with it spinning and get the dry soap on the belt where it contacts the pulleys. a temp solution that usually provides enuf of a dry lube to end the squeal for a while without getting some spray all over the place.

your plain jane fan belt is a 10mm x 838mm; I've a spare in the car at all times. $8 at MM but you might want to confirm with MM as you've a 90's car and I've a 79. Or take the old belt to a decent autopart place who can simply match the size. There are other sizes to be had in Mini applications
http://www.minimania.com/web/SUBTYPE..._Inventory.cfm

easy to install, just a bit of wiggling needed to get around the fan and shroud.

a properly tensioned belt (where there is no auto tensioner) should deflect 1/2 inch or 13mm when pressed with the thumb 'tween the furthest pulleys (consistent with Haynes recommendation; a standard rule of thumb for any automotive fan belt.)

 

Once you have the belt off make sure the V of the pulleys is clean. Sometimes a slipping belt will deposit some of itself in the pulley V. Brake clean & a tooth brush will get the job done.

 

Awesome info guys... thanks as always.

So it sounds like the only way to tension the belt is to move the alternator in its bracket? I didn't see a tensioner assembly, but figured I'd check just to be sure before I started taking stuff apart.

Looks like I'm getting greasy again (what a chore... NOT!)

 

This is a fairly easy job.
Loosen up a couple bolts, pop the belt off, pop the new belt on, tighten bolts.

You may need an extra set of hands to hold the alternator tight while you tighten the bolts.

You can take the old belt to an auto parts store and have them match it up with a belt they have in stock. Nothing fancy about the belt.

 

Great news! I'll get a few extras and keep 'em in the boot, along with my other spare parts. Thanks for letting me know.

Re: checking the various flywheels for bad bearings - just wiggle them around and feel for sideways motion or roughness, yes? If I detect any issues, can just the bearings be replaced, or is it more involved than that (i.e. a whole new water pump for example?)

 

You are right on the money on what to check on the bearings. Sometimes its just a bit of corrosion from sitting and a little lubrication will do the job.

I personally would replace the water pump if it seems to be suspect since its harder to tell if the rest of the pump isn't warn out as well. If the alternator is working well, I'd just recondition whats needed on it if it seems to be charging well.

 

Years ago when I had my '59 with a 1380, I thought I had a bit of belt squeal... turned out it was a bolt for the lower radiator bracket that had backed out and was rubbing on the lower pulley. Get a light in there and check it out before pulling the belt.

 

Will do... thanks!

 

concur that if the water pump appears to be going it is probably best you just replace the whole thing as the insides are probably going too...and a quick search didn't turn up a rebuild kit anyway. MiniMania says:

In the earliest days of British cars in America, it was not uncommon to find a REBUILD kit for your WATER PUMP! Today it's a thing of the past; replacements are easy to find and cheap. These standard capacity WATER PUMPs with steel impellers in aluminum bodies will fit all Morris Minors, Minis and Sprites and Midgets before the 1500cc. $50

If it is the alternator you can take it to a rebuild shop and ask...but you can also replace it for about $100

horror story ... as I pulled into a car show about 70 miles from home I got a terrificly loud fan belt squeal from under the hood...excuse me: bonnet. Short version was the alternator bearing was going. It was Sunday and I was not going to find an alternator where I was. I tried to drive home on it and made it less then a mile. Alternator completely seized. That was a tow that helped convince me AAA was a necessity for a classic owner. Fortunately the flat bed that got the assignment was literally minutes away so I was only 40 minutes late getting home! I replaced it .... didn't try to rebuild. You usually get a core trade-in on an alternator anyway.

{I thought about trying to rig a short belt to just spin the water pump and get power from the battery for the 1 hour trip but decided what the heck, it's only money}

BTW ... we come all the way around to a different question? Why is the belt squealing? You really want to search that out before you do anything. It can be simple belt slippage from stretch or glazing caused by moisture. OR a hung up bearing . . .

and to answer a question of yours, yes the only tension adjustment (when you don't have a tension roller as classics I'm familiar with don't) is via the adjustment on the alternator. Which is why you typically see three mounting points. Two in line to provide a secure pivot point and a third which is elongated to allow the unit to swing, moving the pulley axis in and out to adjust the belt tension (sorry, I was a math major ... did that make any sense to the real world?) I've used a length of pipe to lever down on the alternator to get the belt tight enough . . .

 

Matt, If you need help let me know. I have had my alternator off to be rebuilt before. I am happy to help.

 

@BJ - yep, makes total sense - thanks! I'll check for the cause - hopefully nothing's failing, bearing-wise. And yeah, Fiona's why I carry AAA.

@Pigg - Thanks to you, as well. I'll take a look and see if I can handle it. Should be OK, provided I don't feel any wonkiness in the alternator or the water pump.

 

Well I finally had a little extra time so I got to this. Getting the belt off was no problem and a replacement was to be had at Autozone for $10. the only difference is that the one on the car had a "toothed" inner surface and a smooth outer one, while the replacement was solid along the inner surface and ridged on the outside. Snugged right up and everything seems to be spinning smoothly with nary a squeal to be heard, even when revving the motor on a downshift (which has made it squeal for as long as I can remember).

Everything felt solid when I took the belt off and pulled on everything, so I think it was just a stretched belt. I bought an extra one for my toolkit in case I ever lose one on the road. Thanks as always, guys!!

 

Glad it worked out and the squeel is no more!

Funny thing about these cars... I just hate spending money on my daily driver when maintenance needs to be done. But when the Classic needs some TLC and a little money put into it, it doesnt hurt quite as bad. Especially when it actually fixes something!

 

I'm trying to remember the last time I was able to fix a problem on OC for $10 . . .

 

Ditto that. I was pleasantly surprised to find the cost of wheel cylinders _way_ below the normal replacement part cost that I'm used to.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

I was just happy I could finally buy a part that fixed something locally - usually I have to order it and wait a week.

 

Would you be able to share with us which belt size you bought?

 

Although this isn't what you asked, I found an easy trick for determining the correct belt length needed. With the original belt removed simply place an extension cord where the belt would go, then mark where the cord overlaps and measure the length. That way you can ensure that it's the correct size for your vehicle. All it takes is a different pulley diameter for someone else's correct length belt to not fit on your Mini.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

Agreed... I just brought in the belt off my car and they put it on a "stretcher", then measured the circumference and diameter. Guy said they had 30+ belts in stock of that size.