Need ideas on how to align the alternator so the water pump pulley and alternator pulley align better.

Basically when I pull the alternator belt tight and tightened the the bolt on the adjustable bracket, the alternator angles to the side slightly. Enough where the V belt does not sit fully in the groove, but not enough to where the belt will fly off.

I didn't think it was that big of deal as it has been this way for awhile, but I noticed this weekend that the bearings of my alternator are junk (maybe 2 seasons on it) and the pulley wobbles.

So I am thinking the belt "pulling" at an angle caused this premature bearing wear.

Any ideas how I can adjust the alternator bracket to square it up to the other pulley? (see attached pictures for the type of bracket I have). I will post a better picture of the belt misalignment tonight.

d1

 

You can't.

You need to get the correct length water pump, or the correct pulleys to go with your alternator.

If I remember correctly, there was only one alternator pulley, or at least only one alternator pulley offset, so if your alternator is out of alignment, it's probably the other pulleys.
There is no forward / backward adjustment for the alternator.

Pictures showing how the belts align would be helpful. It is important to see whether any of the other pulleys are also out of alignment.

- Eric

edit: Looking at your pictures, you have that hideous pulley arrangement for that York compressor on there, and I would bet that that thing is the source of your problems.

 

I appreciate the feedback, but I do have the correct size water pump and pulleys.

The original location of the alternator was under the York compressor. But it was a pain in the *** to get to, due to the "hideous" circa 1970s aftermarket air conditioning bracket/compressor setup. So I moved the alternator to the drivers side and used parts/belts referenced in the CSM to do so.

So, I am not worried about having the correct setup. And the aftermarket A/C bracket has zero impact with the alternator as it is not integrated at all with that pulley set up. The belt isn't off by much, but it isn't square in the pulley either.

d1

 

He just may be lucky enough to shim that setup. If I remember correctly that 69 style front alternator bracket only mounts to the head. I suppose he could shim it away from the head, and shim between the front and rear brackets to bring it forward.
Not the correct way to do things, but it just might work.

If it needs to go backward, It definitely won't work.

 

I don't need to bring the whole alternator forward. Just the outer most bracket towards the front of the car about 3/16" or so. That will true up the pulley.

d1

 

It should bolt to the front of the head with 3 bolts. Pretty straightforward. Just disconnect that goofy rear bracket from it first.

 

I once had a replacement alternator from the parts store that didn't lineup correctly. I discovered that there was a washer behind (under) the pulley that moved the fan/pulley forward so my belt didn't align correctly. Perhaps you could instal a washer there to move your pulley forward?

 

I am very confused by this picture.

There are a LOT of pulleys there, and I can't clearly see what is supposed to go where.

It may be true that the alternator, crank, water pump, and P/S pump pulleys are exactly the same and are unaffected by this thing, but I think I would need some convincing.

The fact that the alternator was originally located in a completely different position and you changed it also makes me wonder whether there was a reason for it to have been moved.



- Eric

 

I would guess that mount and drive system wasn't designed to work with the alternator in that position. I believe that the original would have had the alternator where the air unit is now sitting.
You are mixing systems and you are going to have to do some modifications if you want it to work where it wasn't intended to be. Sounds like you need spacers behind the front bracket and the head and spacers between the alternator and the upper rear bracket.
Just go out there and look at it for a while, have a beer and scratch your head a little, it will come to you. Where theres a will theres a way.

 

You were correct, shimming it worked. I was able to shim it 1/8" and it lined up the belt on the water pump pulley better than before as well as the alternator.

The blue bracket for the A/C you see in the pictures was originally designed to mount the alternator underneath compressor. The alternator attached to the bracket and had an adjustable bracket as well. The passenger side of the car was leaning because of all the weight of the bracket, compressor and alternator. So I took a plasma cutter to the bracket and moved the alternator to the driver's side of car. Pretty practical solution to a problem, especially since A/C cars have the alternator mounted on the drivers side anyway.
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The first picture is the before shimming and of course the second pic is with shims. It is hard to see the difference with the angles of the photo and the shadows, but it definitely made a difference.

 

So it was originally a passengers side alternator and was transferred to the drivers side.

Is the power steering pulley the same for those two setups?
Does the DS alternator setup use a 2 groove power steering pulley vs. a single groove for the PS alternator setup?

It sure looks like s single groove power steering pulley in that picture.

 

In the picture, the small black pulleys are for the aftermarket A/C pulley system.

 

Good observation. Yes, I had to change the power steering pulley from the single to a double.

 

Glad I could help.

 

The fundamental problem with your installation is that you have a short non-A/C water pump and pulleys and you are trying to use an A/C style alternator bracket. This won't work. I suggest the following:

1) Get a correct long (6.1") A/C water pump and matching 3 groove pulley
2) Pitch the York compressor and brackets and get a correct A6 compressor and brackets or one of the aftermarket S6 compressors (basically a Sanden compressor in a housing that fits the A6 brackets).
3) Use the pulleys and belts for a factory A/C setup. Everything will line up just like it did for a factory A/C car.

 

Noted. That will be a project for another day. The current A/C works great and the alternator bracket and pulleys are currently in alignment, so not sure why I would throw $ at a problem that doesn't exist. Especially when the pulleys I have installed currently are not the problem. I got the alternator bracket used and I feel this was probably tweaked and slightly bent/distorted when I received it.

The slight pulley misalignment probably would not have been noticed by most people and I could have left it alone as I had been driving it that way for years.

Thanks for the feedback.

d1