Serpentine belt
- Thread starter bigwaves
- Start date
knarfsson
Member
Big Waves, I purchased my 1998 41PC with the same Cummins motors last year at this time. I gave everything a "once over", crossed my fingers, and used the boat heavily all summer long without significant incident.
Now that I have the time, I'm going through the systems and making sure that everything is ship-shape. I started with removing the heat exchangers and after-coolers, as well as both alternators. To remove the alternators, I had to remove the belts from the pulleys. I'm not sure that the access hatch from the rear berth will help you much (unless in 1999 it is considerably larger than in 1998)8)8).
To remove the port side, I recommend loosening the alternator, and removing both belt guard fasteners that are present on the inboard side of the port motor. This will allow you to push the belt guard toward the bulkhead enough to get a 3/8" ratchet through the gap and engage the belt tensioner, loosening the belt and enabling you to remove the old belt and (maybe) to get the new one back on.
To remove the stbd side, I would start with removing the stbd heat exchanger, only to provide working room. I again recommend loosening the alternator, and removing the top belt guard fastener on the outboard side of the stbd motor, and also removing the belt guard fastener on the inboard side of the stbd motor. I don't know that you can reach the bottom belt guard bolt on the outboard side of the stbd motor; and if you do, I don't want to think about how you would get that bolt re-started, much less tightened. Anyway, at this point I then removed the batteries, battery boxes, and halon tank (again, making access room). At this point I was able to push the belt guard toward the bulkhead (again from the inboard side) enough to get a 3/8" ratchet through the gap and engage the belt tensioner, loosening the belt so that a second person could walk the belt off of the alternator pulley. Even at this point it was a bear to get the belt out, working it between the guard and the harmonic balancer. This is as far as I've gotten, I'll have to add some detail as to how I manage to get it back on in the coming months.
At this point I'm seriously considering removing the belt guard and cutting the entire face of the guard out (leaving the perimeter "ring" and all mounting points intact) before reinstalling it. And as stated earlier, I have no idea how I would manage removing or reinstalling the lower outboard bolt on the stbd motor. Ideas?
Now that I have the time, I'm going through the systems and making sure that everything is ship-shape. I started with removing the heat exchangers and after-coolers, as well as both alternators. To remove the alternators, I had to remove the belts from the pulleys. I'm not sure that the access hatch from the rear berth will help you much (unless in 1999 it is considerably larger than in 1998)8)8).
To remove the port side, I recommend loosening the alternator, and removing both belt guard fasteners that are present on the inboard side of the port motor. This will allow you to push the belt guard toward the bulkhead enough to get a 3/8" ratchet through the gap and engage the belt tensioner, loosening the belt and enabling you to remove the old belt and (maybe) to get the new one back on.
To remove the stbd side, I would start with removing the stbd heat exchanger, only to provide working room. I again recommend loosening the alternator, and removing the top belt guard fastener on the outboard side of the stbd motor, and also removing the belt guard fastener on the inboard side of the stbd motor. I don't know that you can reach the bottom belt guard bolt on the outboard side of the stbd motor; and if you do, I don't want to think about how you would get that bolt re-started, much less tightened. Anyway, at this point I then removed the batteries, battery boxes, and halon tank (again, making access room). At this point I was able to push the belt guard toward the bulkhead (again from the inboard side) enough to get a 3/8" ratchet through the gap and engage the belt tensioner, loosening the belt so that a second person could walk the belt off of the alternator pulley. Even at this point it was a bear to get the belt out, working it between the guard and the harmonic balancer. This is as far as I've gotten, I'll have to add some detail as to how I manage to get it back on in the coming months.
At this point I'm seriously considering removing the belt guard and cutting the entire face of the guard out (leaving the perimeter "ring" and all mounting points intact) before reinstalling it. And as stated earlier, I have no idea how I would manage removing or reinstalling the lower outboard bolt on the stbd motor. Ideas?
Last edited:
bigwaves
New member
Thanks for the reply knarfsson. I?ve been away from the website for awhile so I?m just now seeing it. All I can say initially is Holy S***! Replacing the starboard belt sounds worse than replacing the port impeller. What was Formula thinking?? This is ridiculous just to replace a maintenance item like a belt. Have you been able to get the new belt on?
backwaterdawg
New member
I also just replaced belts, impellers , had starters, alt., all rebuild- actually hired someone younger and skinny from the local repair facility- it was a bitch for this guy - glad he was able to get to all that
bigwaves
New member
Thanks for this reply as well. I?m leaning in that same direction. I had to hire a mechanic to change out the port impeller. I could not get over the top of the engine and reach the seawater pump. The belts seem to be a nightmare as well based on knarfsson?s description above.
knarfsson
Member
So here's my update. Ended up pulling both belt guards off, and will leave them off. Made this decision after seeing many pictures of other bilges with serpentine belts and no guard. I will be sure to secure anything within reach so that nothing can get near the belt while running. I did this because with them on there is no way to perform an inspection of the belt. And if at sea, would never be able to replace a belt.
With the belt guards off, changing belts is a snap.
That port side sea water pump is still a b!tch. I found a skinny friend who is mechanically inclined that works for beer. Pull the port turbo aftercooler, throw a couple moving blankets down and pass him tools and parts.
Good luck!
With the belt guards off, changing belts is a snap.
That port side sea water pump is still a b!tch. I found a skinny friend who is mechanically inclined that works for beer. Pull the port turbo aftercooler, throw a couple moving blankets down and pass him tools and parts.
Good luck!
SabrToothSqrl
Well-known member
...this is why my next boat gets outboards.... ohh no! all the parts are chest height and under this cover you say..?
knarfsson
Member
Last night got everything put back together, let's hope we didn't miss anything.
To recap: new sea water pumps, cleaned/serviced heat exchangers and turbo aftercoolers, new thermostats, new belts, new zincs, serviced the halon system, oil change, coolant and filter change, fuel filters changed, miscellaneous hoses, new oil pressure senders (for the new gauges), air filters, replaced the stbd air intake pre-heat system.
Really happy that I removed both belt guards. There's nothing up there that will get destroyed if a belt fails, and the ability to quickly verify belt condition is huge to me.
Going back to an earlier question about whether removing the stbd heat exchanger is required to replace the stbd belt, I would guess that the answer is probably no, unless you're planning to remove the belt guard.
Biggest headache on the port side impeller is that I had decided to replace the entire pump with the aftermarket SMX pump. This means that instead of merely needing to access the front of the pump, remove the cover and replace the impeller, I also needed to remove the 2 bolts holding the raw water pump in, and then disconnect / reconnect both hoses. This took my friend wedged between the fuel tank and the motor to position the pump, while I reached through the access hatch in the bulkhead to start the 2 bolts. In a few years when I replace the port side impeller, I'll just pull the turbo aftercooler and should be able to go in headfirst to change the impeller. While some have mentioned pulling the cockpit fridge for access from above, I did not try that, it just didn't look productive.
Looking back on the job, it was overwhelming because I tackled everything at once, and on both engines simultaneously. Glad to have all of those parts out of my basement and back on the powertrain, where they belong!
To recap: new sea water pumps, cleaned/serviced heat exchangers and turbo aftercoolers, new thermostats, new belts, new zincs, serviced the halon system, oil change, coolant and filter change, fuel filters changed, miscellaneous hoses, new oil pressure senders (for the new gauges), air filters, replaced the stbd air intake pre-heat system.
Really happy that I removed both belt guards. There's nothing up there that will get destroyed if a belt fails, and the ability to quickly verify belt condition is huge to me.
Going back to an earlier question about whether removing the stbd heat exchanger is required to replace the stbd belt, I would guess that the answer is probably no, unless you're planning to remove the belt guard.
Biggest headache on the port side impeller is that I had decided to replace the entire pump with the aftermarket SMX pump. This means that instead of merely needing to access the front of the pump, remove the cover and replace the impeller, I also needed to remove the 2 bolts holding the raw water pump in, and then disconnect / reconnect both hoses. This took my friend wedged between the fuel tank and the motor to position the pump, while I reached through the access hatch in the bulkhead to start the 2 bolts. In a few years when I replace the port side impeller, I'll just pull the turbo aftercooler and should be able to go in headfirst to change the impeller. While some have mentioned pulling the cockpit fridge for access from above, I did not try that, it just didn't look productive.
Looking back on the job, it was overwhelming because I tackled everything at once, and on both engines simultaneously. Glad to have all of those parts out of my basement and back on the powertrain, where they belong!