shredded ac belt

[eiskusma]

I just recently got myself an 88 Ford Ranger with a 2.9. Most everything seems to be pretty good on it except there was no belt on the AC. I went ahead and put on one to see if it works and everything there seemed ok, until I popped the hood last night and saw the belt was being shredded after less than a week.

The other 2 belt loops look to be fine with no undo wear and tear. But the loop that the ac compressor is part of seems to be out of alignment.

I shot a photo of the pulleys in question from as close to directly above them as I could. Crank shaft pulley at the top, water pump below, and that's the power steering pulley in the foreground. To me it looks like the crank shaft pulley is further out than the water pump pulley.

Overall I'm pretty new to old trucks. I've done basic stuff and I know my around an engine bay decently, but the closest I can put it is I probably know enough to get myself in a lot of trouble, and not enough to get myself back out of it. So I wanted to pick your guys brains for suggestions to try to fix this. Would love to have the ac up and running. It's hot out XD.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Does the compressor turn freely?

 

[eiskusma]

Does the compressor turn freely?

Yep. The ac compressor spins freely.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Yep. The ac compressor spins freely.

You had the belt around the outside pulley on the crank?

 

[eiskusma]

You had the belt around the outside pulley on the crank?

Yep. The belt was on the 3rd set of pulleys furthest away from the engine. The alternator, water pump and crankshaft are on the pulleys closest to the engine. And the power steering, water pump and crank shaft are on the middle series of pulleys.

I had found this belt diagram that I was using as reference.

 

[2 bronco 11s]

Don’t know what pulley is wrong , but the pulleys are not in line . The water pump pulley is inside of the crank pulley as the others are .

 

[eiskusma]

Don’t know what pulley is wrong , but the pulleys are not in line . The water pump pulley is inside of the crank pulley as the others are .

Yeah. I'm not sure how clear it is in the first picture, but the gaps between the 2nd and 3rd pulleys on the water pump and on the crank pulley aren't the same, putting them out of alignment. Though the 1st and 2nd pulleys on both assemblies look just fine. I'm not sure if there's an extra spacer shoved in there somewhere, one is missing, or something wasn't cranked down all the way?

I guess I'm just going to have to dig down there and try to pull them and see what's what more than likely.

 

[2 bronco 11s]

All 3 are off the same . I have 3 2.9’s and the ac pulley is an add on . But all 3 of your belts are off . There are other possibilities, Did you change water pumps ? With today’s parts it may not correct .

 

[eiskusma]

All 3 are off the same . I have 3 2.9’s and the ac pulley is an add on . But all 3 of your belts are off . There are other possibilities, Did you change water pumps ? With today’s parts it may not correct .

I only got the truck about a week ago. So the pump may have been changed at some point but I didn't do it. Would be understandable for it to need replacing at some point in the last 36 years and 140,000ish miles.

 

[2 bronco 11s]

If you want to measure the width of the water pump pulleys from , the outside to outside of the belt groves and the depth from the balancer on the crank to the end of the outside groove where the ac belt goes I’ll go out and measure the ones I have that’s off an engine I’m rebuilding .

 

[eiskusma]

If you want to measure the width of the water pump pulleys from , the outside to outside of the belt groves and the depth from the balancer on the crank to the end of the outside groove where the ac belt goes I’ll go out and measure the ones I have that’s off an engine I’m rebuilding .

I should be able to do that tonight once I'm off work.

 

[2 bronco 11s]

That’s good . Just send em to me .