some of these may be common sense, but I am just sharing what I have learned in hopes that I can help someone.
1. Don't trust your eyes. at least not MY eyes,
. Get yourself the Gates Laser Alignment tool, or rent it from someone or borrow it. The right tool for the job will make your life aligning pulleys FAR easier. Make sure you ALIGN the tool first, according to the instructions in the kit. If you don't, the tool is useless.
2. Only Ribbed idlers control the belt, so when aligning your pulleys, the only ones you need to be concerned with have ribs. Remove all non ribbed idlers and the belt tensioner from the car. This will give you a straight shot with the laser and the most accurate results.
3. Pay attention to the direction of motion of the belt in the car. It is CLOCKWISE. This means that (for KB Cars, others will need to consult their own belt diagram and adjust accordingly)the crank pulley determines the belt location on the A/C. The A/C determines the belt location on the Alternator, the Alternator determines the belt location on the S/C, the S/C determines the belt location on the Power Steering, and the power steering determines the belt location on the crank. This is ESPECIALLY important to remember when your looking at how the belt tracks on your pulleys and you see something is off.
4. If you cannot get the blower pulley to align properly with the rest of the ribbed pulleys, you may need to change the size of your spacer behind the pulley.
5. Once all of the pulleys are aligned with the laser, put all of your idlers and tensioner back on the car. If you are on an 8 rib kit, you SHOULD have spacers on your idler pulleys, INCLUDING one on the tensioner pulley. Once the belt is back on the car, crank or start the car so the belt will center itself and look for any abnormalities. The belt should be riding in the middle of all idler pulleys.
1. Don't trust your eyes. at least not MY eyes,
. Get yourself the Gates Laser Alignment tool, or rent it from someone or borrow it. The right tool for the job will make your life aligning pulleys FAR easier. Make sure you ALIGN the tool first, according to the instructions in the kit. If you don't, the tool is useless.2. Only Ribbed idlers control the belt, so when aligning your pulleys, the only ones you need to be concerned with have ribs. Remove all non ribbed idlers and the belt tensioner from the car. This will give you a straight shot with the laser and the most accurate results.
3. Pay attention to the direction of motion of the belt in the car. It is CLOCKWISE. This means that (for KB Cars, others will need to consult their own belt diagram and adjust accordingly)the crank pulley determines the belt location on the A/C. The A/C determines the belt location on the Alternator, the Alternator determines the belt location on the S/C, the S/C determines the belt location on the Power Steering, and the power steering determines the belt location on the crank. This is ESPECIALLY important to remember when your looking at how the belt tracks on your pulleys and you see something is off.
4. If you cannot get the blower pulley to align properly with the rest of the ribbed pulleys, you may need to change the size of your spacer behind the pulley.
5. Once all of the pulleys are aligned with the laser, put all of your idlers and tensioner back on the car. If you are on an 8 rib kit, you SHOULD have spacers on your idler pulleys, INCLUDING one on the tensioner pulley. Once the belt is back on the car, crank or start the car so the belt will center itself and look for any abnormalities. The belt should be riding in the middle of all idler pulleys.
