DT wrote:
In article ,
says..
Belts are fine when it is easy to change them out.
I remember when they first appeared. Ford of England used them on the BDA
engine (Belt Drive series A). My first one was on a Pinto 1600 engine.
The belt could be changed in 10 minutes. First, the engine was not sideways,
so you could get at it. Second, it wasn't even under a cover. Third, you did
not even have to remove the crank pulley.
Belt guards serve a valuable purpose in keeping crap and stones etc away
from the belt. More than a few cars without covers have found this to
their cost. On a well designed engine they are quite easy to remove,
I've mainly done a few FIAT/Lancia twin cam engines and they were quite
straight forward, the Lancia Delta having the least clearance in the
engine bay and so being the most trouble for that mm or 2 clearance isse.
Then they added a belt retainer under the bottom of the belt, so you had to
remove the crank pulley to slide the belt out. Then added complex dust
covers. Then they made the belt drive other things, like water pumps. Then
they put them on front wheel drive cars where you had to remove all kinds of
things, including the two or three piece front engine mount, which uses 4"
long bolts and there is only 3 7/8" of clearance between the engine and
inner fender.
I just did the one on my Kia Sedona, and the basic job was going fine, it was
as straightforward as any I have done. Then I removed the four 4" long motor
mount bolts. And the mount didn't budge. Nada. After searching on online
forums, I discovered there is a fifth motor mount bolt that comes from the
front, sideways to the rest of the bolts. It is not mentioned in the
repair manual. This requires that you remove the alternator. Which requires
the radiator to be moved forward. Which requires the upper front cross member
removal and part of the intake air duct and loosening the air condioner lines
and stretching them to the max to allow the passage of one alternator bolt.
That one stupid extra motor mount bolt doubled the time required to do the
job, and no other car I have done has had a bolt needed in that location.