belts and stuff..
 

howdy partners-

my power steering belt has been squealing quite a bit recently. On Saturday morning I decided to try tightening it down. I removed the belt cover (losing one of the screws in the process) and found the right sized socket for the PS tensioner. I reefed on it for awhile and decided that I wasn't making any progress.. then I realized that I probably had to loosen the idler pully before screwing down the tensioner.

Well, I loosened it, tightened the tensioner, and re-tightened the idler. After doing this a couple of times, it was pretty obvious that I wasn't making any progress and that the belt just needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, the final time I went to tighten down the idler pully, the nut didn't actually get very tight. It almost felt like it was skipping off its threads or something. Am i making sense here? will my car explode? I drove it about 200 miles afterwards and aside from the squeaky belt, everything seems fine.. is there something I should be doing?

-adam

Sounds like you might have stripped the bolt or the nut that holds the idler pulley. If it's the nut, then you might be able to find a suitable replacement at a hardware store. If it's the bolt, then you're probably going to have to buy one from Subaru as it is not a standard bolt.

What problems you might have depends on when the nut gives out and lets the pulley fly off and whether it takes out any other front end components, like the cooling fan, in the process of flying off.

KuoH

yeah, it's the nut.. it looks like a mirror on the inside. I'm gonna try to find a replacement at walmart.. wish me luck

-adam

success.. sort of. they don't sell nuts at walmart, but we found a hardware store that was open. Went inside holding the bolt in one hand and the stripped nut in the other. Found a replacement that was the right size and tried to twist it on.. no dice.. wouldn't go. Figured the entry threads on the bolt were a little caked together, so I bought a couple nuts (don't even think about it) to be safe, and went home. all it took was a little reefing with the socket driver thing-a-ma-bobber, and it went on like a champ and tightened right down. sweet. now i just need to buy a new belt.

-adam

*waiting for comments about nuts and Wal-mart* :D

Walmart seems to hire all the freaks and cripples they can find, in my wall mart your welcomed by the big headed old guy, pass by the one armed man stocking shelvs with his claw, and checked out by the gimp it the wheel chair that can even lift a roll of paper towels over the scaner. Talk about nuts.

<<Gzus Cryst looks like me>> Hmm... naah. :p

Here's an idea you may want to try before replacing the belt.
If the power steering fluid is old, it breaks down and the steering pump starts to sieze.
There is no bleeder valve to drain the old fluid, so use a kitchen basting syringe to extract the old fluid and replace it with new.
Drive around for a few minutes turning the steering wheel to both extremes to get the new fluid flowing through the pump.
You should notice an improvement within a short time.

Try it. It's cheap and it can't hurt!

Of course you may want to replace the belt anyway if it is as old as the fluid! :D

Scott

The one arm bloke!!!!!!!!!!
 

Having a physical disability does not make you a " freak, cripple or a nut " . It just shows the challengers that you have met and overcome, to do the same job as the "NORMS." :rolleyes:

Can you tie a shoe lace with one hand.?
Can you shoot a .44 magnum with one hand?
Can you ride a trail bike with one hand?
Can you use a can opener one handed?
etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. :D

Harvey. The One Arm Bloke.;)

Re: The one arm bloke!!!!!!!!!!
 

How do you manage the bike Harvey?? Kick it through the gears without clutching?

Joe:)

Re: Re: The one arm bloke!!!!!!!!!!
 

How crude:D ,

I have the front brake, clutch and twist grip, on the left side. Throttle just works the other way, twist forward to go, twist back to stop :D . Fall off often:D Get up, fall off again, realise it hurts, Don't fall off again. :cool:

It's a Bultaco Alpina 250.
Harvey.;) ;)

Didn't mean to offend, most of them can do the job just fine, just stateting the high concentration of unusual people at my walmart.
An as a matter of fact when I sliced two of my fingers to the bone, I learned how to write, eat, pee, and pull the motor out of my Legacy with my one undominate hand. It's funny about the motor cycle thing tho, theres a guy around me that has a one arm bike, he hooks his other hand to the handle bars and go's, but every time he fell of his hook hand would stay on and brake his coller bone. He learned not to fall off.

You can't, offend me I'm an Australian!
 

No offence taken, I was probabley like you, till 95 and there was no right arm.
It opens a whole new challenge to life. Now days I wonder what I did with all the spare fingers.:rolleyes:

Harvey.;)
P.s. anyway "The drummer for the Bucket only has one arm":D

The Bucket?
I'm American how about DefLeaperd.

Yep, them too:D
Harvey.:cool: