broken alternator belt. why couldn't it be the a/c belt?! it would have been so much easier to replace.

anyway, so i was getting on the highway from a side road, and decided to get on it just for fun. so i get to about 6000rpms in 1st gear and i hear this noise that sounds like a plastic bag blowing in the wind, and i smell burning rubber. no dash emergency lights come on. i pull over to the nearest store, and park it and pop the hood. first thought was wheelwell area. nothing. so then second thought is the belts. i look and they all look fine. deteriorating and in need of soon replacement, but they seemed fine. so i drive home so i can jack up the car and look underneath and i spot nothing. so i resume my trip to dinner and a movie with my girlfriend, and we get on the interstate and it makes that noise again, and my battery light comes on. at that point i knew what it was and turned around the next exit and parked it at home. err.

 

I hate haveing something wrong and not identifying it right away. My girlfriend just expects nothing to ever go wrong since i know some things lol.

you should prolly get all the belts replaced since you got to change that one anyways. Also regrease the idler pulley. He can be a noisy freak.

 

i hope i can afford all 3 belts. lol. which ones the idler pulley? is that the pulley that's kinda by itself, and not on the alternator, compressor, or PS pump?

 

do you have an online shop manual for your car? You can download it for free, it'll be easier to tell from the diagram. I want to say yes that's the one, but don't want a misinterpretation to end with something bad lol.

 

i got a haynes manual, i should be fine
replacing my compressor and all 3 drive belts while i'm at it. my compressor went bad right after i got the car... improper r134a conversion

 

The idler puller is used for adjusting the A/C belt tension. You need to loosen the center pulley bolt prior to adjusting belt tension. Then tighten the center bolt when finished with the adjustment.

 

yea, so it must be that one pulley that's all by itself and is the 3rd pulley wheel in the a/c pulley system?

 

oh man u have to get the shop manual, blows haynes out the window. it's what the mechanics use to refer to. Should just take 5 min to download depending on dsl/dial up etc. Little bit of a PITA finding the right section (lot of them) but it's the most in depth how to you'll find.

Good luck, going to be tough cause of the space you have to work with, but with the right tools shouldn't be a problem.

 

The idler pulley has a red dot in the middle:

 

i don't know if i'll be using the manual much anyway. i've changed the timing belt on my old civic and i know pretty much what to do since you gotta remove all that stuff to get to it. i'll just refer to the manual to make sure i don't forget anything. i just didn't know which pulley was the idler pulley