hey everyone im new here and like alot of people, joined because im having some problems with a recently acquired 1999 elantra. so far ive replaced the alternator, clutch, and slave cylinder. for the passed couple of weeks, one of my belts would squeal up untill i hit a higher RPM. well today the higher i went with the RPM's the the louder the squeal got, and then i smelt like a burning smell, got to where i was going right down the road and noticed my belt missing off of my alternator. now here is where my couple of questions come in.

1. what would cause my belt to just come right off (im thinking it was possible too loose? but i could have sworn i tightened it decently but not too tight)

2. what does this belt get routed to? is the water pump run off of this same belt? i noticed that the PS gets run off of it, but not sure about the water pump, but when i got home the radiator was very hot and being very loud returning the fluids to it.

3. if the water pump is run off of the same belt, what are the chances of me overheating from just going down the road to and from the store, it is exactly 1.48 miles there and 1.48 miles back, and the car was cold when i left the house, and the belt didnt come off untill half way to the store

4. how hard of a job is it to do these belts, i am very mechanically inclined when it comes to honda's and acura's but i know nothing about hyundai's (it took me 4 days to do the clutch where as on my acura i would have had the clutch done in 4 hours)

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated as soon as possible, i need this car to take care of my 2 year old daughter who has alot of doctors appointments

 

bump it up

 

anyone?

 

First things first. Learn a little patience. Questions don't always get answered 1 minute or even 1 hour after you post them.

1. A number of things. Worn belt, too loose, bent or mis-aligned pulley.

2. The crank, the water pump and the alternator. The Power steering pump is run off a second belt on the water pump. A third belt runs the A/C compressor off the crank pulley and is tightened by a tensioner pulley.


3. The water pump is run off the same belt as the alternator so chances are 100% that you will overheat if you drive it. And since the power steering is driven off the water pump, you won't have power steering either.

4. The brand of car shouldn't make a difference when it comes to replacing something as simple as a belt. Make sure the pulleys are aligned and the belt is tight. It's not rocket science. My guess is you didn't replace the belt correctly when you replaced the alternator.


Alternator Belt Adjustment
If the belt is too loose, noise or premature wear will occur. If the belt is too tight, the water pump bearing or the alternator will get damaged.

1.Loosen the alternator support nut "A" and the tension adjuster lock bolt "B."
2.Using the tension adjuster bolt, adjust the belt tension to specification.
3.Tighten the adjuster lock bolt "B".
4.Tighten the alternator support nut "A".
5.Check the tension or the deflection of belt, and readjust if necessary.

Power Steering Oil Pump Belt Adjustment
1.Loosen the adjustment bolt of the power steering oil pump.

2.Adjust the deflection or the tension of the power steering pump to specification.

3.Tighten the adjustment bolt.
4.Crank the engine one or more revolutions.
5.Check the belt deflection, and readjust if necessary.

Air Conditioning Compressor Belt Adjustment
1.Loosen the tension pulley adjustment bolt A.

2.Adjust the belt deflection with adjustment bolt B.
3.Tighten the fixing bolt A.
4.Re-check the belt deflection and re-adjust, if necessary.
Before re-checking, crank the engine one or more revolutions.

 

Tension Specs:

Apply 100 N (22 lbs.) force to the belt back midway between the pulleys as shown in the illustration, measure the amount of deflection with a tension gauge.

Standard value:
For generator = Deflection mm (in.) / Tension N (lb)
Inspection = 9.0-10.4 (0.354- 0.409) / 350-500 (77-110)
New belt = 7.5-9.0 (0.295- 0.354) / 500-700 (410-154)
Used belt = 10 (0.394) / 400 (88)

a.The belt tension must be measured between the specified pulleys.

b.When a new belt is installed, adjust the tension to the center of the standard range indicated under "New." Let the engine idle for 5 minutes or more, and check the standard value indicated under "Inspection."

c.When adjusting a used belt or a newly installed belt after 5 minutes or more of operation, refer to the standard value indicated under "Used."

d.Refer to the standard value indicated under "Inspection" for periodic inspections.

Type A tension gauge
Do not let the dial section of the tension gauge contact other objects during measurement.


Type B tension gauge
1.When measuring, turn the reset button in the direction of the arrow to set the gauge needle to the RESET position.


2.When the tension gauge is removed from the belt, the needle will still indicate the tension. Read the tension after removing the gauge.

 

thank you for your reply, i was just getting antsy because im not sure if driving it for 1.5 miles is enough to over heat the engine, and im used to my honda/acura forum, when ever i post there i usually get an immediate reply after a few views. now i know driving a car with a non functioning water pump will over heat an engine but i was wondering if driving it the 1.5 miles would make it overheat ( the temp guage didnt really go up from the normal operating temp)

 

It might not but I personally wouldn't risk it. These engines don't take kindly to being warm. It's your car so do what you feel comfortable doing. Don't you have any other way to the store? Heck, 1.48 miles isn't that far of a walk.

 

lol nahhhh thats how i got the car home, i was 1.5 miles away at the store when it happened, so i drove it home, and at the time i didnt know the water pump was controlled by that belt, my integras water pump is controlled by the timing belt so didnt even think about it

 

Nova Resource, you are a wealth of information! Even though I have a 97 Elantra, I think I'll be able to glean enough info from your post to adjust my belt. (my car has the alternator belt going around the power steering and water pump.)
I have a couple questions though, just in case I might have the water pump going bad instead.

Brief background: I just had this belt replaced a month ago- two weeks after purchasing the car. It squeels a bit on start up (new this week), but goes away after pulling out of the driveway. Just today we drove 600 miles home from Florida and everything was ok until the last hundred miles... Actually, everything was fine as long as I was going over 65. I then noticed a long as I kept the rpms high, the temp went back to normal. Lower rpms threatened overheating. Turning ON the a/c also made tempts go down.

So, my question for you is:

Would the belt tension cause over heating at lower RPMs?
or,
Could the water pump be going out and being more difficult to turn, causing the squeel?

 

BassGirl <-- is that the fish or the guitar?

Hard to say without hearing it. The belt could be loose or the pump maybe seizing up. How old are the belts? If they are fairly old, I'd replace and tighten them first.