When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hey guys, I'm piecing my a/c system together and I dont know how everything gets put together. So I need someone to show me there a6 or pro6ten compressor installed in there car to see how the brackets go and what pulley the compressor v belt goes to. If someone can just send a bunch of pictures of there compressor/ belt setup that would be great!
Chris,
It looks like your alternator and power steering belts are in the wrong grooves.....The alternator is the inside groove, power steering is the middle groove, and AC is the outside groove. Then perhaps move the compressor to the firewall side of the brackets, I wonder if the compressor pulley would then line up with the outside grooves.
You have the wrong crank and water pump pulleys for that A/C bracketry. They should be three groove, but one grove in front of where they currently are.
Or a different A/C bracket setup that pulls the compressor further back, but I've never seen one. I expect Joe or someone can jump in with combinations that would work.
Christopher:
The water pump for air conditioning engines is longer than a non-AC water pump: 5.95" for the AC pump compared to 5.1" for the non-AC pump. Measure your water pump from the mounting face that bolts to the engine to the pulley flange; it should be 5.95"- 6". The shorter pump would explain the mis-alignment of the belts! See the attached pdf file.
There is a noticeable difference in the gap between the front of the engine and the water pump pulley on the two vehicles. Water pump length difference is very likely, could also be difference in pulleys as well.
Yeah, I've never seen a water pump pulley with that deep of a hat (pushing the pulley ribs further back). But it's lined up with the crank pulley, so whatever it is, it's an OE application.
I'm nowhere near my car to look, but I'm thinking where the bolts attach the compressor to the bracket..move the compressor back so it's behind the bracket, not in front of it. It looks like there are 2 small spacer brackets, maybe you can juggle those or double them. I'm not disagreeing with the others that the pump or pulleys are wrong. They might be, I don't know. But clearly the compressor has to go back to work with the stuff that's there.. If you move it behind the bracket, with some combo of spacers and longer bolts it will work.
There's no way to move the compressor rearwards with the stock brackets. It's as far back as it can go with where he has it, without cutting them up and making new brackets.
Hey guys, I really appreciate all your post. I'll have to measure the water pump tomorrow. But I did move the compressor back so it now lines up with the furthest pulley from the engine(the correct one). The only thing is the alternator will never be able to go on that pulley closest to the engine. Here's some pictures.
Sure, I knew you could move the compressor back. I wasn't sure if that would fix it, though. But, I'm not going to argue with somebody about it. Wen you build rods or customs, that's the kind of stuff you do. I'm also sure the others are probably right about the pulleys, pump, etc. My car is a couple hours away, so I can't look at it. You might want to think about the alt pulley as you get it sorted out. It looks a little fat at the rear. These kinds of things are always hard to get lined up after 40 years of tampering. Please keep us posted on the install, I'd like to put pro6tens in my 2 AC cars. There's just no kind of seals that work in an A6 if you don't drive it and use it every 2 weeks year round.
Hey guys, I really appreciate all your post. I'll have to measure the water pump tomorrow. But I did move the compressor back so it now lines up with the furthest pulley from the engine(the correct one). The only thing is the alternator will never be able to go on that pulley closest to the engine. Here's some pictures.
Chris,
Along with measuring the water pump, I wonder if you have the KB crankshaft pulley and the KO water pump pulley.
Chris, Here's a picture of mine....looks like we have the same water pump, but it looks as if we are running different pulleys. Notice the distances to the pulley grooves.
Chris:
You haven't told us what year and model car you're working on. There are different brackets and pulleys for each year and yours may be mismatched. Also, there are 2 special spacers required; one at the water pump stud and another at the bottom power steering bolt. Without these, your brackets won't be in the correct positions or could be angled such that the accessory belts line up with the wrong grooves on the water pump & crank pulleys. I have attached a pdf drawing which shows the sizes & locations of the spacers.
I think you should get a long straight edge (like a 2 ft. level or a framing square) and lay it across the face of the water pump pulley and the crank pulley to see if they line up. Ideally they should be in the same vertical plane, but they won't be level or plumb because the engine tilts slightly back towards the rear axle (I think about 6-7 degrees). Then do the same thing from the water pump pulley to the alt & pwr steering pulleys. The alternator belt runs in the back groove and the pwr steering belt runs in the middle groove, so you'll have to measure from the straight edge back to the belt grooves. If your pulleys are correct for your car, the straight edge should lay flat against the crank & water pump pulleys. If your brackets are correct, it should measure the same distance from the straight edge to the middle groove and the pwr steering pulley and then between the rear groove and the alt pulley. If the measurements are not the same then your belts are running at an angle, and your parts are not correct or need some adjusting. When I assembled my engine, the accessory brackets didn't line up very well on the first attempt. I had to bend a few mounting tabs and assemble all the brackets loosely on the motor before tightening everything up. Then the belts fit as they should. I hope this helps!
Rodney
Last edited by cdrod; July 20th, 2019 at 06:58 AM.
Yeah Dave, our pulleys look very different. Mine are a lot bulkier.
This engine is a 71 350 Cutlass. I got all these great brackets from Dave26. He took them off his 71 350 engine for a conversion. I'll have to take the measurements to see if everything is square. The previous owner had an aftermarket a/c system with a sanden compressor and different make shift brackets so I don't know if these pulleys are correct. We'll see!
Okay so i took my pulleys off and the water pump pulley is marked LD, which is from 77-79 Oldsmobile according to a parts website. So now that I have confirmed this I will get the new pulleys. Thanks for everyones help!
Christopher:
If you need a power steering pump pulley, I have a nice KH power steering pulley with 2-grooves which is correct for '69-'72 engines.
Here's a link to my for sale thread:
Oddball:
Yes, he needs a KB crank pulley with 3-grooves, but I thought I saw a post in another thread where he was also looking for the pwr steering pulley. I just couldn't find his other post so I put it here.
Whoops! Yup, sorry, skipped right over the Power Steering part of your post......
Christopher, I'd bet $5 that your current power steering and alternator pulleys will line up just fine. The KB/KO set moves the 3rd set from the back to the front, where the compressor then lines up. PS and Alt stay where they are.
I was thinking the same thing, but I have the KA power steering pulley and im changing the pump. I just want to get it right the first time.
I'm lucky if I get it right the third time!
The good thing on the PS pulleys, from what I've seen, is the offset of the dual row pulleys are all the same. There are different diameters, but that doesn't particularly matter. You might have to go up or down a size in belt.
July 13th, 2019, 07:14 PM
