Wobbly 308 a/c belt

Best way to see if you have HT shorting, is to start up in the dark, have a look under the hood and you should see it straight away. (big blue electric spark jumping from the lead to earth) This is an old trick, but it works everytime.

As far as the belt goes, remove it and inspect the pullys to see if all is ok.
Then replace the belt.

Hope this helps
Regards
Mak

 

Paul,

I just put the belts back on my '78 308. If you have the lower AC bracket, you have to not only remove the water pump/alternator belt, you also have to remove the lower AC bracket. You don't have to remove the compressor, but you do have to loosen the bolts on top of the upper bracket to allow the compressor to drop down to get enough room to slip the belt up over the compressor pulley (put it on the crank damper first, then up over the pulley on the compressor). Tighten up on the top bolts, reinstall the lower bracket and tensioner pulley, and then reinstall the alternator belt (good time to change that one too).

Hope that helps.

Steve

p.s. BTW, removing the lower AC bracket is a PITA. You have to remove the two studs in the bottom of the compressor to get the bracket off. Double up a couple of nuts on the studs and they should back right out. I got lucky and mine came out with the nuts rusted in place on the studs, but removed them and cleaned up the studs before putting them back in.

 

Paul,

EXACT thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I started the car up on a cool day (45 deg. F). Loud intermittent ticking sound from the A/C compressor while A/C was on but not while it was off. This past weekend started it up again (80 deg. F outside) and let the car warm up a bit. Turned on the A/C, applied throttle and no tick.

Let me know what you find.

- James

 

The ticking snapping sound is a common belt problem on 308's. I have had it with new belts and other belts not. The extra tension on the waterpump belt will make it go away but dont use too much tension or it will prematurely burn out your waterpump bearing. I have not had it on the AC belt but agree that you should take a look at the whole path, if the belt is wobbling I would first check for either the AC pump or lower tensioner not lined up properly. Ther are a bunch of washers and spacers that need to go back right for the whole thing to work properly, check your spare parts book for their orientation.

Rob
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Believe it or not it is highly probable this is static discharge from the belt, very common on 308 engines especially on start up/ cold. I had thsi problem until I chnaged my old belt.

Spray WD40 or equiv lube on the belt at start up and I would be 90% confident the tick will go away.

 

Paul we are only 300 miles away from London in Dublin!

Actually had the problem when I lived in the UK (Reading), havent had the problem since I returned to Ireland.

Did scare the C%$p out of me at the time, sounded like ball bearings at the time, had me worried. Phill in QV London that had a good laugh when I brought the car around to him.

 

Paul308, I don't think it's a good idea to spray WD40 on any belts. There is a spray specifically made for this called belt dressing. Use this. I'd be concerned, using WD40, that oily residue would stay with the belts. As you know oil and belts is not a good idea and can lead to belt breakdown.

I had the same problem with my 308gt4 and apparently this is common. I used belt dressing and the ticking went away. I replaced all belts at 30K service and no problem since. When I was in there at the 30K service I paid particularly close attention to all the pulley's and tensioners to be sure it wasn't one of them causing the ticking. They were fine, though I did replace the bearings in the a/c belt tensioner. So probably just a belt issue but do not use WD40 anywhere near your belts.

PS if you replace the bearings in the a/c belt tensioner. Be careful. There are two bearings in there and in the middle of them is a snap ring so you simply cannot just "press" the bearings out from one side to the other. They have to be "pulled" at least on one side then you can remove the snap ring and press the other one out. With any luck maybe one (or both) will fall out with some mild shaking, tapping etc.

Good luck.

 

There is supposed to be a ground lead from the compressor to the engine. Take a look at the parts manual. It should be on one of the bolts on the compressor, near the pulley and attach to the cam cover nut where the dipstick attaches. Check to be sure that is in place and properly grounding (check with a multi-meter). That should prevent any build up of static between the compressor and engine block.

 

I have to second the motion, I would not put anything on the belts. The snapping I had was supposedly caused by the construction of the belts with some plastic material. Ferrari belts are smaller than most accessory belts so the materials they are built with I have heard are stiffer sometimes leading to then taking a shape and upon starting misbehaving. Here are some more shots of the ground and the AC compressor. Actually there is quite a bit of dirt on my engine, the pictures were done during a belt change with another one comming up this year!!
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