crxaddikt

car is 90 crx, the idler pulley for the A/C belt came off sometime while driving, probably cause the mechanic that looked at it last did'nt put it on right or did'nt tighten it down?, so i ordered a new A/C idler pulley off rockauto.com, which was an aftermarket one for my car, so i put it on along with a new belt, first time driving i noticed it was making noise, so i messed with it again and tightened the tension on the A/C belt more until the noise was gone, and it was real tight and stiff when you pressed on it, barely moving with no slack, i was also messing with the adjusting nut on the pulley until it was just right, cause at first the nut kept spinning off and falling off after i started the engine up, and the drive pulleys were turning, then i tightened it down more and then the idler pulley did'nt turn at all ?, but then loosened it a little more until it turned but also the nut stayed on after starting the car.

so it was fine and drove the car a couple months, and the idler pulley turned freeley and did'nt make any belt noise at all, but just yesterday i was looking at it, and noticed that the A/C belt was all shredded up on the left edge of it (the edge facing the idler pulley), and one section was worn down to the inner layer, and would of broke soon.

i'm not sure what caused the A/C belt to be shredded and torn like that ?, could it be i had the belt too tight ?, the A/C compressor pulley spins freeley so thats fine and not seized, plus the idler pulley still spun freeley after cutting belt off it, and i heard that if the reason the belt got shredded was cause of a seized idler pulley, that i would hear it making a noise if it seized and would be obvious, and i did'nt.

also, there was a part thats like a big wide washer (over 2" diameter about), that goes over the outside of the pulley, but i read that with the newer aftermarket type of idler pulleys that you don't need to put that part anymore, cause its main reason is its a dust-shield, to keep dirt out of the outside side of the pulley, and that the newer type ones are sealed better on that side.

do you think not putting that big wide washer dust-shield on caused something to not spin right on the idler pulley and cause the belt to get shredded or anything ?

or could it of been rubbing against something causing it to shred ?

does it matter at all that the A/C is'nt working and the wires not connected at the moment on my car? or does it not matter if its not working and the idler pulley & A/C belt can be spinning regardless ?

what could be other causes for the A/C belt to get shredded and almost break like that after only being on for a few months ?

any thoughts on what it can be or what i should check would be cool, thanks

zrickety

iTrader: (1)

Possible a rock or debris got up in there. But it sounds like one of the pulleys is not lined up. Maybe the compressor is starting to go too. It can spin freely but when the clutch engages could be a different story.

crxaddikt

but don't you think a belt thats way too tight could cause that to happen also ? at first, after installing the idler pulley, it was making squeeky noises while i was driving around, so i tried tightening the belt more, and the noise started going away, so i just tightened it little by little, checking to see if it still made the noise, until the noise was gone,
but i tightened the belt pretty tight, i thought it supposed to be like that, cause i knew i put all the parts on the right way in the right order, and the pulley, washers, locknut & belt were all brand new, and the belt was lined up on the pulleys so they both lined up when you looked down at it, so i just thought it was making a noise cause i had the belt too loose, and that i just had to tighten it more and that its how it should be,

but now that i think about it, i should of known it was too tight, cause the belt was as stiff as a board, and did'nt even move when you pressed down on it, had no slack at all, i should of just thought how the alternator belt usually supposed to be, and how it supposed to have 10mm of slack about at least, and not be so tight that it does'nt even flex.

at first i was also having a problem where once i started up the car and the pulleys started turning, the locknut on the center of the idler pulley spins itself loose and falls off on the ground ???, but when i tried tightening the locknut so it was a lot tighter, then the idler pulley did'nt turn at all ?, so it was weird, and can't remember exactly what i did, but i got it so the locknut stayed on but so the idler pulley turned freeley also, i think i either took off the washer that goes between the locknut and the outter side of the pulley ?, or i put that washer in ?

99teggsr

It does not matter if AC is working or not. The AC belt, idler pulley, and AC compressor pulley spin 100% of the time the motor is running. Before putting the new belt on, but after you tighten idler bolt, make sure you can turn the idler pulley by hand freely, and be able to spin the AC compressor pulley freely by hand. I suspect you will find one of them to have some resistance. I once assembled my AC idler pulley wrong and as soon as you tighten the bolt you cannot turn it.

see:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...01_bop0201.png

Look at the section labeled A or B if you have the alternate Matsushita compressor

crxaddikt

my idler pulley and AC compressor pulley both spun freely before putting the belt on and also after i just cut that shredded belt off, yeah, i was real carefull on how i was putting the parts of the idler pulley in the right order, i made sure and looked closely at that parts diagram on majestic honda, and also looked at pics of other crx's idler pulleys in their engine bays to compare and stuff,

only thing i did'nt do is put that wide washer thing, (part #24 in diagram) the dust-shield that goes on the outside of the pulley before the locknut goes on, cause i read that newer idler pulleys such as the one i got on rockauto.com were sealed better on the outter side, and was'nt necessary to use the dust-shield part, cause i guess on the oem pulleys that side was more exposed or something, and the dust-shield probably kept dirt from getting inside the pulley bearing.

crxaddikt

i might of found the cause of my belt breaking, there were some loose wire ends around the top of the A/C compressor area, they were left unconnected since the mechanic i had fixing my A/C was looking at it, and i put a safety pin around them and secured them to the compressor on the top, but they must of come undone from the safety pin, cause i noticed they were dangling right around the top of the compressor, and could of possibly moved in the track of the idler pulley or belt, causing it to snap, but if that did happen, it would seem that it would make some sort of obvious sound that i would maybe hear ?,

so i secured the wires where they supposed to go, so i won't have to worry about them moving around anywhere.

or it might of just been cause i had the belt way too tight, but its still good to get those wires out of the way to prevent them from doing anything in the future.

Tyson

ive already told you what your problem is. you keep repeating the mistake.

https://honda-tech.com/honda-crx-ef-...nning-3212133/

and no, you cannot omit the washer.

crxaddikt

yeah i remember when i made that post, that was when the locknut was spinning off and falling on the ground, and i finally got it to stay after trying a couple different things, but i still did'nt put the big dust shield washer thing back on,
i think at first i did have the dust shield on, when the locknut was coming off, and i tried removing the dust shield, and after doing that, the locknut finally was staying in place, but then the pulley was making some noise as it was spinning while driving around, and i tightened the belt tighter and noticed the noise going away, so i tightened it until the noise was completely gone, but i tightened the belt way too tight, cause it was as stiff as a board and had almost no slack at all, and i should of known better, but it was turning normal and lined up with no noise, and i had it like that couple months, but then i was looking at it and suddenly noticed the belt was shredded and ripped along the inner edge and about to snap in one spot, and i'm pretty sure its cause i had the belt too tight.

i also might of had the wrong size A/C belt, it was one for my car that the autoparts store pulled up to match it, but i did'nt know but theres a couple different size variances for my car, like one is 34" long, one 32" long and one 31" etc ..., so might of also had something to do with it.

this time i'll make sure to put the dust shield on and use the correct size A/C belt tightened to the right tension, actually i'm not going to put it on yet, and going to wait til i get my mechanic to finish working on fixing my A/C, and have him make sure i do it right.

crxaddikt

not sure if it has anything to do with it, but i also noticed my alternator belt was a little frayed on the inner side also?, but not as bad as the A/C belt, plus it was a little loose, so i got a new alternator belt.

Tyson

its not about the dust shield.

you need washer #21.

crxaddikt

i do have that washer that goes between the outter side of the pulley and the dust shield,
i just was'nt totally sure if it was the right one that goes with the idler pulley, i had all the parts for the idler pulley and i ordered whatever parts i was missing from majestic honda, i got that gold collar thing that fits into the hole of the pulley on the side facing engine, a locknut, and i can't remember if i ordered that #21 washer or if i already had it?, but the hole on the inside of the washer is 10mm like it says it should be, but i just don't know if its the right one cause how thick it is?, cause it does'nt seem to fill out that whole space on the inside of the center cup of the dust shield ? i will look at the washer again to make sure

Tyson

you know its all right when you spin the pulley, and it spins freely. thats what a bearing is supposed to do....

jlicrx

make sure that all of your pulleys have the same number of ribs on them and that the ribs on the belts matches the pulleys - some use 3 rib belts and some use 4 rib belts