I sent an e-mail to an .org member not long ago about belt alignment. I want to post my e-mail and share my experience with you guys.

feel free to comment or add your experience.

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the cause of bad SC belt alignment is the SC pulley
not aligned with your crank/alternator/AC.
Each car is different a little here and there so when
you put an SC onto it...it is not going to be
perfectly algined. To correct this problem, several
SC'ed peeps tried to use washers to push out the SC
pulley a bit in order to be aligned with the crank.
so first you have to determine what kind of
alignment problem you are seeing. if it is running
close to the engine. that means the SC pulley is too
close to the engine and it brings the belt to there.
if it is running towards the fender. that means SC
pulley is too far away from the engine. either one
can cause the belt to slip off the pulley.
to correct this. I added washers between the plate
and blower it self so I can push out the SC pulley
(which is attached to the blower, right?) a little.
So my problem is the belt is running too close to the
engine. On the other hand, if the belt is running too
close to the car. You have to push the SC pulley
towards the engine. in this case, you have to add
just a washer to the SC pulley shaft to push it in.

btw, if you decided to add washer. get a washer that
is thin (about 1mm). make sure every wahser is made
from the same manufacture and the same batch. too
thick and too much variation of thickness will bring
you more belt alignment problems.


start with one washer because adding 1mm between the plate and the blower does not mean its going to push the belt 1mm away. Kevin and I initially add 2 washer and turned out the belt got pushed to far (about 2cm) and jump a rib on the other side of the alternator pulley.


I will post the size of the washers later.

 

How important, or how big an issue I should say, is this maxi? You are making it seem like it is a frequent issue and big concern among a good number of SC owner's. This is the first I am ever hearing of it and I, myself, have never had an alignment issue. So how many SC people exactly are affected by this mis-alignment problem?

 

Josh:

I know several people had to go thru the alignment problem with the SC, Jay25, Blackcat, robocop, Turbo95Max, etc. IMO, this is a first timer issue for many people. but once the problem is fixed, most likely it will stay there

also the chance to have alignment problem will increase if the SC pulley size is reduced. smaller pulley = less contact area for the belt.

 

I see. Yeah, I still have my 3.6" so maybe that's why. Thanks.

 

My alignment problem was due to the fact that I was missing two bolts and drove 3 hours all over New Orleans trying to locate the M6 55MM and 65MM bolts. I finally got them special ordered from NAPA. They will get them for you.

 

I did't realize that my installer had put in washers when I separated the blower from the mounting plate when I received a new pulley. I had that "Oh SH*T" look on my face when my 3 washers just dropped off because I didn't know from which location they originally were.