Hey y'all, I was driving my '83 308QV and noticed the water temp getting very high. Luckily, I was only a block from home, pulled into the driveway and shut her down. Upon inspection, I found the absence of the water pump belt. Completely gone. Now, I've looked through the forum threads and the general consensus seems to be that to put a new one on, you really need a lift, and you really have to get the tension "just right". I don't have a lift, and I really don't want to pay to have the car flat-bedded down to Norwood's just for a belt. Any recommendations? I'm jones'ing to get the thing going asap! T
IMO putting a water belt on a 308 is a simple and quick job. No more so than a Honda. These are just machines. You may have to support the motor to get to the drivers side engine mount if memory serves. Wooden block and a $29 jack. Try it. If you cant get it flatbed it then. There is a first time for everything.
Tim, Putting the belt on and getting it tensioned right are not that big a problem. You do have to get the car pretty high so you can get under it so you can get to the nut on the back side of the alternator which is how you set the tension. You'll want the rt. rear wheel and fender liner out. So very doable in your garage with a good jack and a couple of stands. But before you dive in on that job you might want to do a little diagnosis. The belts normally don't just fly off, usually if they go MIA it is because of a water pump failure or such. So first make sure the water pump and alternator turn freely and the tensioner if your car is so equipped. If something is locked up you'll want that corrected before the new belt goes on. Give me a call and I can walk you through it. James
Thanks for the feedback guys. Up to this point, I've been a "pay and play" kind of owner. But lately I've been getting more interested in doing some maintenance on my own. (I'm sure the economy has helped that philosophy!) I have to do it on my plane, so why not my car? Anyway, I appreciate the feedback. James, thanks for the extra precautionary measures. After reading your post, I double checked the water pump and alternator. Both are turning freely. However, I did notice (with a flashlight) quite a bit of old-belt debris stuck to the alternator pulley. Not sure if that means anything. And you'll have to forgive my ignorance but I have no idea whether or not my car is equipped with a tensioner. ?? Sorry... I can walk you through all aspects of the dual redundancy of a Lycoming aircraft engine, but Ferrari maintenance is just starting to catch on. T
If there isn't another pulley in line with the crank, alternator and water pump pulley there is no tensioner. Be sure to clean the old belt debris off the alt. pulley, the debris got there when the belt started to slip on that pulley and melt, eventually breaking. If you have any question while putting the new belt on just give us a call.
Thanks again James. If worse comes to worse, I'll have to bring down to your shop. But I think with the advice I've gotten here, I can "git'er dunn!"
