MX-3.com

I dug deep in this section of the board before posting this but found nothing.

Ok My 94 1.6 DOHC MX-3 keeps breaking alternator belts at an alarming rate is this a common issue or am I haveing pully issues ? My water pump is spinning free so its nothing like that but it kind of looks like my plastic timeing belt cover overlaps the pump pully a bit and not sure if that might be doing it or I might be doing something wrong on belt install

I am also looking for a online guide for proper belt removeal, not sure if I losen the power steering pump or the AC compressor

there are 4 bolts on the ac unit that need to be loosened(not removed) in order to remove the belt. they are a total pain in the a-- and easy to strip.

I no longer use all 4 as some got screwed. Don't try this until you actually find real picts that tell you the order of how to loosen unless you are prepared to use a pry bar to retighten with some blood sweat and tears.

Does your belt squeal before breaking - if yes it was too loose and it may have slipped and shredded itself.

If it didnt squeal - there are two possibilities i guess - one is the belt was too tight and after the engine gets hot the belt gets a little bit more tight and it couldnt withstand the tension. Other possibility is that one of the pulleys is bent or the alt pulley bearing is gone(which means alt replacement i think).

Another possibility is a bad alternator putting too much load causing excess strain on the (non slipping) belts.

Make sure you can move all your pulleys by hand. Shouldn't spin with ease but shouldn't be too stiff either. Listen for grinding noises or feel for roughness. The pulley should spin with a little effort and should be a smooth spin. No clankin' around.

Check the tension. If you have doubts, stop by a shop and I'm sure a mechanic will check your belt tension for free. All you do is push on it

The most common cause of premature belt snapping is bad tension or bad pulley (out of alignment, bad bearings, siezed up, ect.)

Do you have any charging problems? Is it ONLY the belt that is affected by, uh, well the belt I guess

All the pulleys are fine and none are bent and it dosent squeel. What I think is going on is the plastic timeing belt cover got heat warped and has started overlaping the water pump pulley and digging into the belt

so what I think I will need to do is eather pull out the 4 10 mm bolds that hold the timeing belt cover on and pitch the cover or use a dremel to grind off the warped plastic.


As for the 4 bolts on the AC are the 2 seemingly useless ones on the very bottom some of them ?

Thanx for the help guys

you do not loosen ac comp to change or adjust the belt.look down at ps pump from front of car,about an inch or to left of lower radiator hose is a bolt on ps pump ,the head is facing forward,that bolt is the tension adjuster,loosen bolts on ps pump and scew the tension bolt to loosen or tighten the belt.if its been untouched for a while oil it up good with pb powerblaster or wd 40.plastic on mine did the same thing,,trim with dremel ,it was most likely eating your belt

I losened it to the point the bolt came out and the belt still will not come off but their is a bit of slack now

I figured their might be a slider lock bolt on the ps pump like their is on the alt. but mine looks like its on a solid U shaped bracket

loosen all bolts on ps pump,,,one you must loosen through holes in ps pulley....you have to push pump if adjustment bolt is loose and i pump doesnt move