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99 Deville belt troubles


bschelle

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On my 99 Deville I have been eating the serpitine belt! I replaced the alternator about 25,000 miles ago. The belt just started squeaking and I figured it was the Tensioner pulley and replaced that. No good still squeaking. Next I replaced the Idler pulley and no good. I put a NAPA belt on and it ate the outside edge of the belt. The belt looks to be riding too far out towards the fender on the Idler pulley. I put the NAPA belt back on with the ouside edge missing and it ran OK for a couple of weeks and then my wife said it was still squeaking and it was. In desperation I shot some belt dressing on it and it threw the belt. I put the old belt on and it started to curl the outside edge so I shut it down before it ate it! I don't see it being misaligned on any of the other pulleys just the Idler. I thought maybe the alternator was loose but I can't move it at all! Where do I go from here? The idler pulley was the last piece I replaced. Is there a spacer behind the pulley that I forgot? Is the alternator the wrong one? HELP!!!!

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Where did you get the alternator? AC Delco or Napa? I have seen problems with the wrong pulley or spacing being used on them. I don't suppose you have the old alternator?

We recently had a member have the idler land break off and he needed to replace it by building up a new land by welding a new piece there. I don't think its possible but check to see if your idler wheel land is bent, I think it would CRACK before it bent.

Serpbelt.gif

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It is a NAPA and I installed it in October of 2007. I called the parts store and they said the only difference in the one for my car was the diameter of the pully. I asked them to look at both of them and see if there was a difference in the distance from the outside edge of the pulley back to the cooling fins and they said they were both the same. As the belt leaves the alternator it goes to the Idler pulley and then to the A/C compressor. The belt is runnig a belt notch off of the idler and I can see the belts outside edge turning over when it gets to the A/C compressor. It finally tears the belt apart at the outside edge. It looks like I am going to have to pull the alternator and see whats up with it!

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The alternator was the only thing I have replaced and I only replaced the belt once since I owned the car. I bought it used. I now have removed the outside edge on both sides of the belt and it is running in th center of the pulleys with only 4 grooves. At least it isn't eating the belt and hopefully it will work until I get this figured out. I looked for a OEM alternator but all of the online dealers only have remanufactured ones. None of them mention the different diameter pulleys so I am worried that they do not come with a pulley. If my pulley is the wrong size it is going to be hard to find one. Monday I am going to call the boneyard and see if they have one off of a wreck to measure the pulley width.

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I have my alternator rebuilt at Montrose in Babylon, NY... You can not believe how many pulleys and spacers they have, it could be that the one you got from NAPA was mis boxed and you got one that is causing a bad alignment. I really don't want to pour salt in the wound, but this is one of the reasons to buy an AC Delco. If this pulley is only off a 1/4 of an inch it will create a problem. Try eyeing up your alternator pulley against the other pulleys to see if they are in line..

Try putting a straight edge against the tensioner, idler wheel and alternator, take the belt off to gain clearance, and use a breaker bar to pull the tensioner into position and put a straight edge across the three wheels and see if you can spot a problem. The idler wheel has no shoulders, so the belt will slip off, since you are slipping off toward the outside (toward the fender) that would imply that the alternator pulley was too long, pushing the belt off, the idler.

OR, better yet, you might get in there with a steel ruler or depth gage and measure the distance between the alternators cooling fan face, and the outside of the pulley face, and compare that measurement to the measurement of a new one.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

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It is the pulley. I will change it today. The parts guy pulled the ones they had in stock and they both had the shallow pullies.

Let us know how this turns out, glad you figured it out, Mike

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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I finished it yesterday afternoon, I was able to pull the alt, without pulling all of the brackets. I removed the splash guard and radiator access panel and then unhooked the right electric fan and slid it up and over to give me more room. I then removed the top mounting bolt from above and the four mounting bolts from the bottom. I also disconnected the neg. side of the battery and the two connectors on the alternator. I was then able to turn and slide the alt. out. I had to press the pulley off of the alt. and then mounted the new pulley and slid it back in and hooked it all back up. It is now in perfect alignment. But now I am throwing a P1645 code. I clear the codes and it comes back instantly. What do you think about that?

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But now I am throwing a P1645 code. I clear the codes and it comes back instantly. What do you think about that?

Bschelle,

Check the connectors for the Evap Purge Canister.

One of them may have got knocked loose when you were replacing the alternator.

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