Belts replacement

My 1991 Ford has a belt tensioner on the front belt. The other belt is adjusted by moving the alternator. My squeek turned out to be front belt and not a pulley. I simply removed the first belt and started engine. No noise, replaced belt and still no noise. I really thought it pulley bearings, so go step by step.

I've had to replace the idler pulley twice. Both times the bearings were shot and causing the squeal you report.

The 1990 era 460 does not have automatic belt tension pulleys. It should have two belts and the adjustment is on the alternator and AC compressor. At least it was on my last RV on the Ford F53 chassis. It might be different on the Oshkosh chassis but I had an old thunderbird with the 460 and it was also the alternator and AC. On mine I changed them from above with the exception that I crawled underneath to verify that the belts were in the correct groves on the harmonic balancer before giving the final tightening and starting the engine.

Mike

time2roll wrote:
In the old days we would just bump them off with a screwdriver and new belt back on with same ;)

You made me feel old. :) 1990 may not have a tensioner. In this case it may tighten with the alternator. Should be pretty straight forward really.

It sounds like a loose belt since it's doing it during acceleration. Does it stop squealing after leveling out your speed? If so, get some belt dressing at your auto store and spray it on the belts OR take a bar of soap and rub it on the belt/s. If that stops the squealing, it the belt, if not it could be the pulley. The belt might just need to be tightened or the belt could be bad.

In the old days we would just bump them off with a screwdriver and new belt back on with same ;)

Getting squiken sound on acceleration, not sure if its pulley or belt needs to be replaced. Anyone knows what is the best way to get to the belts? Is it from inside the coach, or front of the engine? Per manual the engine has pulley tensioners.

What pulley/s are you wanting to replace? There may be 4 or 5 of them. Some are mounted on a idler arm and others have a center bolt.

Does it have belt tensioners? If yes, just remove old belts and install new ones. The tensioner will move to allow removal and reinstall.

If no, then you'll have to find the accessory that has an adjustable mounting arm (alternator, AC compressor, etc) and loosen the bolt to slide the accessory item inward to release the tension on the belt. Then remove and replace and re-tension the accessory so the belt has about a 1" play in the center.

If you can get to them, it's not a difficult job. However, typically that available room to work is very limited and this makes the job harder.