Hey Everyone,
I have a 95GT with bolt-on's that I've been having accessory belt issues with for the past two seasons. Last summer the car was making a ticking noise which turned out to be a bad belt tensioner. I replaced it this winter with an aftermarket unit from Summit Racing.
This spring my first trip with the car it threw the belt off which I thought was really odd. It destroyed the belt in the process, so I purchased a new Goodyear Gatorback belt. I also noticed that the belt was riding on the front of the new tensioner pulley which I thought was maybe why the belt came off.
So I used a 1/4 spacer behind the tension to push it out so the belt rode on the middle of the pulley. The belt no longer flew off but now I had horrible belt squeal at startup and a slight chirping at idle. I figured maybe my spacer meant that the tension was not 100% straight and thus causing the squeal, so I went back to no spacer and the squeal is still here.
So three things come to mind now. One; my new belt could be glazed from the squealing and needs to be replaced again. Two; the aftermarket tensioner is crap and I should replace it with a Ford unit, or Three; I noticed a lot of rubber build-up around the alternator and perhaps my alternator is the cause? It is charging find and spins freely, but there is a lot of build up around it. Pictures attached to maybe help.
Thoughts?
I have a 95GT with bolt-on's that I've been having accessory belt issues with for the past two seasons. Last summer the car was making a ticking noise which turned out to be a bad belt tensioner. I replaced it this winter with an aftermarket unit from Summit Racing.
This spring my first trip with the car it threw the belt off which I thought was really odd. It destroyed the belt in the process, so I purchased a new Goodyear Gatorback belt. I also noticed that the belt was riding on the front of the new tensioner pulley which I thought was maybe why the belt came off.
So I used a 1/4 spacer behind the tension to push it out so the belt rode on the middle of the pulley. The belt no longer flew off but now I had horrible belt squeal at startup and a slight chirping at idle. I figured maybe my spacer meant that the tension was not 100% straight and thus causing the squeal, so I went back to no spacer and the squeal is still here.
So three things come to mind now. One; my new belt could be glazed from the squealing and needs to be replaced again. Two; the aftermarket tensioner is crap and I should replace it with a Ford unit, or Three; I noticed a lot of rubber build-up around the alternator and perhaps my alternator is the cause? It is charging find and spins freely, but there is a lot of build up around it. Pictures attached to maybe help.
Thoughts?