For months I've been looking forward to the memorial drive I was going to make in my Cutlass to the camp site my wife and I were staying at with friends. Finally the day came when I was going to meet them after my work.

I started what was going to be the 50 mile drive. Windows down, music playing, nice weather... all was good. Haven't had a problem with my Cutlass and didn't suspect anything. The temp reading was a normal 190-200. About 5 minutes into driving on the highway, I saw it at 240 and climbing fast! I took the next exact, made it to the gas station and was able to stop the car when it read a ridiculous 280! I popped the hood and radiator fluid was shooting everywhere. I immediately saw the culprit and my alternator belt (that also went the water pump) must have broke because it was gone.

Luckily a friends day was able to come about an hour later with a new belt. Bad news was it was to big. At least he was able to drive me an auto parts store to get a new one. The second one was about 2 inches to big. What luck. Third times a charm and it seemed like this one fit. I also put a bottle of 50/50 in the radiator.

I put the new belt on what I thought was a snug fit and started driving again. Immediately into the drive the temp went back up to 240. Starting to get really frustrated, I thought about it and assumed I needed more radiator fluid. The next gas station wasn't to far away so I started the drive. Magically the temp went to a perfect 190 once I was going about 60mpgh. I reach one city and had to go down to 45mph. The temp shot back up to 250ish. I thought I better get more radiator fluid so I went to a gas station. Stupidly I uncapped my radiator and spent the next 10 seconds dodging the geyser of fluid. My car was soaked. I bought more fluid, cranked on the car and started pouring it in. It was filled and I thought I was all good.

Started the drive through the little city and sadly saw the temp go up from 210 again. This time I noticed my stereo was cutting in and out. I decided I better find a place to park. I shut off my cars, called my friends saying I was still having problems. Tried to start the car again and nothing.

I suspect that my alternator belt is still not doing its work. I feel it would explain the high temps and loss of power. At this point, it was midnight and hour 4 of what should have been a 50 minute drive and I was frustrated and done. Called AAA and now the car sits in my driveway, sadly crying radiator fluid.

I'm not going to try to fix it tomorrow to go back to the camp sit, but I would like to get a confirmation from the very helpful people here on what the problem could be. How tight should the alternator belt be?

Sorry for the long story, just not a great start to my memorial day weekend.

 

You need to do a pressure test on the cooling system asap. It may have got so hot it popped a head gasket.

 

It should have about a 1/4 inch deflection. Sorry to hear about your problems!

 

So sorry to hear about your misfortune...

So the belt broke but where was the coolant shooting from? Could you tell from where?
Also, there should be 2-3 belts, each driving the water pump (unless you do not have A/C or power steering).

Most likely the system burped a large volume of air, since you lost coolant.
Could you see any leaks from under the hood then?

We all have a tendancy to do the wrong things when you get as frustrated as you were. Just hope you did not get yourself burned...

This stereo issue should be unrelated to the overheating issue.
When you say nothing, does it mean it will not even crank? Or does it crank but nor run?

GLAD you had AAA to get you home!!!!
Belt should have 1/4" deflection when pressed down in the center.
Still leaking? Need to find you where. I am hoping a hose is damaged when the old belt broke. But like Richard mentioned, it could be a head gasket.

Hope you get it figured out. Keep us posted.

Usually when I replace belts and hoses just out of preventive maintanence, bag them up and stow them in some deep cranny of the trunk, for just this sort of emergency. Never had to use them yet, but that is a good thing.
Just an idea for everyone...

 

Are you running an electric fan? Sounds like at 60 mph the wind is helping cooling but at low speeds the fan may not be doing its job. It no electric fan then you may want to check your fanclutch.

 

I do have an electric fan. I'm currently camping but here is a brief update. Car is home. AAA guy was a nice"good ol boy" and was 100% convinced that it was the loose belt.

I think its the alt belt too because its the only belt that goes to my water pump (and fly wheel).. I'll get pics of my set up when i get back. Hopefully no major damage.

 

Was your electric fan on while your car was overheating? The fact that at 60 mph the car was cool and and at low speeds it would heat up makes me believe its the fan.

Good luck and keep us informed

 

Just got back home tonight and had enough time to at least check to see if the electric fan still worked. It does. I'll try to tighten the alternator more tomorrow and provide an update. What is the best, safe, way I can tell that the belt is "latching" correctly and I should be safe to drive?

Thanks

 

How tight are you making this belt?

Are you tensioning it using a pry bar or a really BIG screwdriver, or are you just pulling on the alternator?

- Eric

 

I took what appears to be pretty poor quality video of everything. This is after I tried to tighten it when I got it towed back to my house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfV2SNh5NNU

I was just trying to pull the alt.

 

That belt looks a little bit too loose (you shouldn't be able to twist it all the way around so easily), but not bad enough to give you those symptoms.
Tightening it would be a good start though. You should be able to deflect it about ½" with FIRM finger pressure, in the middle of the longest run.

As a side note, this is an argument against fancy aftermarket pulley sets:
The factory pulleys would have had two or three belts going between the water pump and the crank, and one to the alternator, and this wouldn't have happened.
Similarly, if you'd left the factory fan and supplemented it with an electric fan, rather than putting all your eggs in the electrical basket, an alternator belt or other electrical failure wouldn't have led to overheating.

- Eric

 

Did you check the thermostat? I didn't see a mention of it unless I mised it. Sometimes they just fail and don't open or only partially open. That is easy enough to check and cheap to replace. Very appropriate for me on Memorial Day, I drove my 69 Vette to a Memorial Day celebration a few years back. When the ceremony concluded, my car overheated in the departing traffic. The temperature gauge pegged. It was fine before that, but the thermostat failed almost completely. I stopped waited for traffic to clear, then limped it home. It ran hot, but as long as I was moving it stayed at about 240. A new thermostat fixed it.

 

out of curiosity, should the car be able to run from just the alternator? As mentioned above, I'm trying to find out a way to test to make sure everything works by not having to drive it around and risk it getting to hot

Addition: Well, I got my wife to help tighten it and I started it up and let it sit in idle for about 5 ish minutes. Temp gauge said it was at around 160. Decided to take it around the block a while (another 5 minutes or so and it stated at 190).

Since I had to get just a belt that fit (non factory) is it possible that it just had to get worn slightly to fit in the grooves better?

 

Belts wear and loosen up over time.

That's why checking and tightening them is a part of routine maintenance.

- Eric

 

Yes, the car will run only on the alternator and the battery disconnected. It's a good rule of thumb to go back and check a belt after a few 100 miles for tightness. They do stretch. If you are throwing the belt off while driving, check your pulley alignment and verify they are all the same width.

 

I just let me car idle for a little over 10 minutes and the temp never went above 190 with a could revs mixed in there. Had the sound system on and everything and didn't lose power. When I shut the car off, the temp went to a little over 200 which is making me think the thermostat is still working.

If this was your car, would you feel as if everything is OK now or is this idle test pretty irrelevant and I need to test while actually driving.

 

Sounds normal for an idle test, I'd take it out for a short drive to be on the safe side.

 

That is all normal behavior.

Since your problem was essentially at idle or in heavy traffic, it sounds as though it's fixed, BUT you should never consider a car "fixed" until you've put it through its paces in variety of conditions. In your case, with a run up to 280°, I'd want to take it out long enough to warm it up and give it a couple of good full-throttle runs, just to be sure it's acting the same, and you haven't blown a head gasket.

- Eric

 

I actually just took the car out for a short test drive after letting it sit 5 minutes in idle. I only went about 10 miles total (85 degrees outside), but it was pretty aggressive (probably used about 10 gallons of gas haha). My temp gauge showed the car right at 190 and it never budged. I put the car in neutral in the middle of the drive for a few minutes and the temperature stayed right at 190 still (before the belt change, in idle the temp would get up to around 210. Is the car temp always suppose to stay constant while the car is running? Maybe the increase in idle should have been my warning sign). When I got back to my home, the temp did go up to around 210 as expected. I think I'm in the clear. The only thing I noticed is that my temp gauge wasn't as fluid as it used to be, it almost seemed to hop a few degrees at a time. May just be me being paranoid. Another day I'll see if I can take it for a 30 minute close drive just to get an "endurance test" in. I think I'm good :::crossing fingers:::

Thanks

 

It will get hotter on prolonged idling. The temp gage issue may be an air bubble. You may have to purge it!

 

Sorry, but how do I do that?

Thanks

 

Do you run anything special for water in there? I generally will start it when its cooled, with the cap off, and wait for the thermostat to open. Then I stuff a water hose down into the neck with a gentle flow of water and force it out by overflowing the system. That usually smooths out the temp gauge. If it's a small bubble I would not worry about it. If the temp shoots way up like in a 2 second period, then there is a rather large bubble.

 

When you take it for a longer test run, stay close to homea couple laps around the neighborhood so you are close to home is better than driving staight down the road and finding yourself 5 miles from home. Five times around a 1 mile circle is the same distance as 5 miles straight down the road. That way, if it does overheat, you aren't far away. Once you determine it is okay, then take it a greater distance

 

It looks to me like you have the belts set up wrong. The main water pump pulley has 3 grooves but only one belt. The PS pump drives right off of the balancer pulley. Something ain't right or is the picture deceiving me?

Mike

 

He's got one of those expensive, shiny aftermarket pulley setups - looks great but apparently doesn't work all that well.

- Eric

 

haha

Anyway, I just took the car for its 30 -40 minute test drive and it performed great. Never really budged from 190 degrees and then after everything was done just went up to 205. I went through parks, on interstates, and basic cruising. I think my over heating issues are over.

The only strange thing was towards the end of the drive through a park (little gravel was on the road), I heard a strange clink and thought the engine hiccuped. I immediately stopped, popped the hood to check belts and other. Everything looked fine and I continued the drive. But the funny thing was I noticed my gas gauge started moving! Before hand it was just wayyy paste the F. Now it seems to just give me horrible inaccurate readings all over the place. When I got home and parked on a flat surface the needle went right at the F.

Not to much of a deal for me, I've never had a Cutlass with a working gas gauge. I'm just happy it seems that my car is back in working order!

 

It sound like your car is using Non-standard Olds cutlass belts. Once you find belts that fill all of your devices, suggest you find the name of a car that uses those belts. That way, when you need a new Alternator belt you can tell the Auto parts store "I need an Alternator belt for a 19xx, some-Car". With non-standard belts you can't ask for a 72 Olds Alternator belt anymore. In other words your new size belts need to be associated with the car, year, engine, etc.

The original problem sound like the belt just snapped. The second problem on the way home, the non-standard belt may have been slipping with all of that lubrication from the fluids and a loose belt. Even with a working electric fan, the water pump may have been slipping. The slipping belt was also not keeping your alternator up to full speed. The electric fan was sucking up most of the remaining power, which is why the stereo had issues.

Your water pump appears to be driven by just one belt.
If true, you may want to find a way to run two belts for the water pump.
From the video, it looks like the power steering pump is being driven directly from the crank shaft and does not go over the water pump.
Suggest you find a belt that will go over all three pulleys, Crank, water pump and Steering pump.
This will give you double coverage for you water pump.

Fuel Gauge:
"Wayyy past the F." That means you have an Open circuit in the fuel wire. 90% of the time you will need to replace the fuel sending in the fuel tank. There are many threads on this topic in this forum.

 

I've already written down the measurements of my working belt and I'm going to go ahead and get a spare for my trunk. I was thinking about your power steering belt suggestions. It should negatively effect anything if I get a bigger belt to also include the water pump as you suggested should it? If not, why wasn't it configured that way to begin with?

I've read many of those threads wanting to fix the issues on all the cutlasses I've own but didn't get around to it. Now that the gauge is all over the place, and I believe currently right at the full mark. I'll ask more about that when I do a little of my own research first.

Thanks

 

That's the point. Your belts are wrong! should always have the PS belt go over the crank pulley, up to the WP pulley and back. ALWAYS. If one belt brakes /loosens you still have the pump turning. Plus stress/friction with one belt ,etc,etc. Who ever set it up the way it is was WRONG! Unless you change it you will have the same problems.

 

It looks like on your video, that you can use the second groove on the WP and accomplish the above with a longer belt to your PS.

 

I agree that it looks like those pulleys will accept a normal belt configuration. I hadn't seen that before, because the video us pretty grainy.

If you really do have unoccupied sheaves that are properly aligned with each other, then by all means use them.

- Eric

 

Check thermostat, fan clutch, "manifold head gasket". There is not an Olds that doesn't run hot. Also, perform a compression test to see that no damage occurred.