In case you missed Part 4.
I was up bright and early Sunday morning, eager to get started on the repair so we could get back on the road. Perhaps I was a little too eager. I remember going straight from the hotel to the repair shop without any breakfast.
The car had been dropped off in front of the repair shop in a space that used to have gas pumps. It was relatively cool in the morning, but it was July in Texas and I knew it was going to heat up. Fortunately, I had partial shade afforded by the small roof cover over that area. I popped the hood and surveyed the damage.
Anyone looking at the engine could see the obvious. The fan was hanging down against the radiator instead of upright in the usual position. I had the radiator replaced before I left home for Texas, and I was hoping that the fan did not damage the radiator to the point that it would require replacement. I wouldn't know for sure until I replaced the water pump and filled the radiator with coolant to find leaks.
On the face of it, the task was relatively straightforward. On the front of the engine, there were three belts that drove various functions in order from outside to inside:
1) Power steering belt
2) Air conditioning compressor belt
3) Fan/alternator belt
The power steering and A/C belts were still intact, but I had to remove them in order to get to the water pump.
I started with the power steering belt. The belt was tight with no slack, and I decided to remove the top pulley in order to remove the belt. As I used a socket wrench to remove the pully, the whole thing came apart in several pieces. I gathered the pieces up and set them aside. Check one.
The A/C compressor belt was more of a challenge. There was no pulley to remove. There is a bolt that holds the compressor in place that is designed to be loosened to allow the compressor to be moved inward to create slack that allows the belt to be removed. The bolt and bracket were rusty, and I was unable to budge it after over an hour of trying with only hand tools at my disposal. I got frustrated and decided to just cut the belt. I did this knowing full well that I would not have A/C for the rest of the journey. Check two.
With the outer two belts removed, I was finally ready to tackle the guest of honor. I did not have to deal with the fan belt because it came loose when the water pump disengaged. The pump was in two pieces. The piece connected to the fan was already loose. The other piece was still bolted onto the front of the engine. It was easy unbolting the piece from the engine. I loosened the bolts without any issues. There was a gasket that sat between the engine and the pump that my dad told me would need to be sanded off in order to apply a fresh gasket and sealant before attaching the new water pump. It was not a difficult task, and soon I had the new water pump installed.
By this time, it was probably close to 11 AM. I had still not had anything to eat. Little did Jim know he would become a proto-Uber Eats driver as he brought me some lemonade to stay hydrated.
The next task was to install the new fan belt. I couldn't just wrap the belt around the new water pump and alternator. That would have been like trying to put on an already-fastened belt. You need to have slack first to get the belt on and then tighten it up. The alternator was attached with a similar bolt and bracket like the A/C compressor. I kept working on the bolt and pushing the alternator toward the engine to create enough slack to wrap the new belt around the fan and the alternator.
At this point, I remember I was feeling pretty hot. I don't recall the temperature, but I'm sure it was over 100 degrees by then. The shade I had in the morning was gone, and the sun was beating down on me. To address the alternator, I was alternating between standing and peering down into the engine and sliding under the car to approach from the bottom. I was sweating as I struggled to move the alternator enough to create the slack I needed to wrap the fan belt around it. Each time I thought I had it, I realized that I was tantalizingly close but no cigar. I had resorted to using a baseball bat that I kept in the trunk used to keep the trunk lid open. Finally, I was able to finally put the fan belt in place. The problem was that the alternator had moved too far in and now there was slack in the belt. I needed to push the alternator back to its original position. I thought it would be easy on the second go-around, but it would require Herculean effort by not only me but also Jim.
I was up bright and early Sunday morning, eager to get started on the repair so we could get back on the road. Perhaps I was a little too eager. I remember going straight from the hotel to the repair shop without any breakfast.
The car had been dropped off in front of the repair shop in a space that used to have gas pumps. It was relatively cool in the morning, but it was July in Texas and I knew it was going to heat up. Fortunately, I had partial shade afforded by the small roof cover over that area. I popped the hood and surveyed the damage.
Anyone looking at the engine could see the obvious. The fan was hanging down against the radiator instead of upright in the usual position. I had the radiator replaced before I left home for Texas, and I was hoping that the fan did not damage the radiator to the point that it would require replacement. I wouldn't know for sure until I replaced the water pump and filled the radiator with coolant to find leaks.
On the face of it, the task was relatively straightforward. On the front of the engine, there were three belts that drove various functions in order from outside to inside:
1) Power steering belt
2) Air conditioning compressor belt
3) Fan/alternator belt
The power steering and A/C belts were still intact, but I had to remove them in order to get to the water pump.
I started with the power steering belt. The belt was tight with no slack, and I decided to remove the top pulley in order to remove the belt. As I used a socket wrench to remove the pully, the whole thing came apart in several pieces. I gathered the pieces up and set them aside. Check one.
The A/C compressor belt was more of a challenge. There was no pulley to remove. There is a bolt that holds the compressor in place that is designed to be loosened to allow the compressor to be moved inward to create slack that allows the belt to be removed. The bolt and bracket were rusty, and I was unable to budge it after over an hour of trying with only hand tools at my disposal. I got frustrated and decided to just cut the belt. I did this knowing full well that I would not have A/C for the rest of the journey. Check two.
With the outer two belts removed, I was finally ready to tackle the guest of honor. I did not have to deal with the fan belt because it came loose when the water pump disengaged. The pump was in two pieces. The piece connected to the fan was already loose. The other piece was still bolted onto the front of the engine. It was easy unbolting the piece from the engine. I loosened the bolts without any issues. There was a gasket that sat between the engine and the pump that my dad told me would need to be sanded off in order to apply a fresh gasket and sealant before attaching the new water pump. It was not a difficult task, and soon I had the new water pump installed.
By this time, it was probably close to 11 AM. I had still not had anything to eat. Little did Jim know he would become a proto-Uber Eats driver as he brought me some lemonade to stay hydrated.
The next task was to install the new fan belt. I couldn't just wrap the belt around the new water pump and alternator. That would have been like trying to put on an already-fastened belt. You need to have slack first to get the belt on and then tighten it up. The alternator was attached with a similar bolt and bracket like the A/C compressor. I kept working on the bolt and pushing the alternator toward the engine to create enough slack to wrap the new belt around the fan and the alternator.
At this point, I remember I was feeling pretty hot. I don't recall the temperature, but I'm sure it was over 100 degrees by then. The shade I had in the morning was gone, and the sun was beating down on me. To address the alternator, I was alternating between standing and peering down into the engine and sliding under the car to approach from the bottom. I was sweating as I struggled to move the alternator enough to create the slack I needed to wrap the fan belt around it. Each time I thought I had it, I realized that I was tantalizingly close but no cigar. I had resorted to using a baseball bat that I kept in the trunk used to keep the trunk lid open. Finally, I was able to finally put the fan belt in place. The problem was that the alternator had moved too far in and now there was slack in the belt. I needed to push the alternator back to its original position. I thought it would be easy on the second go-around, but it would require Herculean effort by not only me but also Jim.
Nice image lol.
BTW did Jim bring you anything to eat other than lemonade??