Generator belt twists

[Mike C]

I did a search and could not find anything on this. 1970 type II. Yesterday I noticed that the belt was twisted. Today I took it off and put it back on correctly. I went for a short ride, came home looked at the engine and the belt is twisted again. It is still tight. The PO installed a new belt just before I bought the bus and when I reinstalled it it seemed to be the correct size.

Thanks, Mike

[Wildthings]

It could be an alignment problem, but more than likely the belt is just faulty. Sight down the pulleys to see if they are in line with each other.

[Jody '71]

Well, at least it hasn't broken!!!! If it does, your Gen warning lamp should light up immediately. Try startin with the basics. New belts should have 4 shims in between the pulley halves and 3 on the outside. Your generator pulley should be on an absolutely even plane with your engine pulley. Eyeball it. Make adjustments as necessary.
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'66 Beetle
2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring

[Mike C]

Thanks for the fast response!! I will check out the shims and make adjustments as necessary. The VW shop I buy my parts at is closed until Monday, but will see if the shim adjustment makes a difference.

Mike

[busfreak_71]

Just out of curiosity, is your gen from a beetle? If I remember right, the beetle generators are shorter than the bus generators and so it would not sit properly if used in a bus. It would sit further back.
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'71 Tin Top Westfalia
'99.5 Bora TDI
'85 Jetta Coupe
'85 Mercedes 300SD

Resident Off-Grid hippie and diesel advocate.

[Mike C]

I don't think it's from a beetle. The gen pulley and crankshaft pulley line up perfectly.

I went out again and adjusted the shims. There were 3 shims in between the pulley halves and 4 on the outside. I put 4 in between and 3 on the outside. I went for a nice cruise around the neighborhood, came home and the belt did not shift. Maybe it's fixed. I'll cruise the bus around more tomorrow and keep an eye on it. You guys are great!

Thanks again, Mike

[1975 Kombi]

Might be a fiber reenforcement issue with the belt. Once they flip they break the inside fiber and they become weak on the one side. I think your onto a new one for sure.
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Brett

“He’s decieving you boy! Reach into his pocket and take what he’s got.” Mr. Crabbs.

75 Westy auto
03 Jetta TDI
71 SB
74 Westy
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Licensed pilot (single engine land VFR)
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Rust In Pieces: 72 Bug, 73 Bug, 81 Rabbit LS D 2D, 83 Rabbit D 2D, 84 Jetta TD GL, 85 Jetta D, 68 Z28 RS 302, 91 Passat 16v

[towd]

yes,, buy a new belt,, keep that one as a spare...

Do not buy a belt from napa ect ect,, there all sae sizes, yes they will fit , but most will be down in the groove ( pulley ) to far.. They are not wide enough ,, find a place that carries vw belts in metric size..
The belt should almost even with the top of the pulley when adjusted.. if it's down in the pulley try tend to roll over ( twist)

[aeromech]

I had this problem once and it was because the generator pulley was wrong and the crank shaft pulley was not in the same plane. The belt twisted. But you said your pulleys were well aligned so, hmmmmmmm.

[Mike C]

I drove the bus a bit yesterday and to work today. The belt has not twisted and is staying tight. On my way home today I'm stopping by the VW shop and buying a new belt anyway.

Mike

[Jody '71]

Well, that's fine that it has not twisted. BUT, make absolutely sure that the belt deflects according to specs. I believe it's something like 3/8" (or per Bentley, 10mm) between the Gen pulley and the main pulley. That is, push the belt in directly in the middle of the two pulleys and see how far it moves inward. Too loose and too tight is not good. As the belt wears, that's when you shift the pulley shims.
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'66 Beetle
2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring

[Mike C]

Yes, the tension is about where it should be.

Thanks, Mike

[static]

I had this same issue many years ago when I had stuck a Beetle engine into one of my buses without also swapping the generator from a GR15 to a GR17. Look again.

[Lionhart94010]

One of the way to know if your belt is incorrectly aligned or your pulleys are bent is, if you see the belt jumping or jerking ( i.e. not turning smoothly. If it is working correctly the belt should look almost as if it was not moving, if you stand back an look at it while the engine is running).

I have found that if my engine run smoothly but when the fan belt spins it jerks or osolates in any way; then after further investigation I have found: out of round pulleys, bad/worn woodruff keys or alignment problem :0)

aircooled.net sells a shim kit that has washers for both top and bottom pulleys...

FYI, I recently I found that a bottom no-name brand aluminum pulley was significantly thinner than my stock OEM bottom pulleys and that the only way I could get the belt to align was to add .080 shims to it :0(
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Current VWs 71 T2 Westy SO-72/6(Miami), 71 Crew Cab, 2015 GSW TDI
Other owned VW’s 59, 68 1500s, 69 & 71 Bug’s; 72 & 73 S-Bug’s; 67 Westy, 67 Deluxe, Other 71 DC, 72 KG GT that now lives in Australia, 12 JSW TDI, 2015 GSW TDI, 2023 Tiguan
VW technical information sights
thesamba - www.ratwell.com - www.shoptalkforums.com/ - www.vw-resource.com - http://www.type2.com/
http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/ - www.aircooled.net/gnrlsite/resource/articles.htm

[Mike C]

Well the belt is twisting again. I was mistaken when I said that the pulleys aligned with each other The gen pulley is not out far enough to align with the crankshaft pulley.

A couple months ago peaceful warrior and I talked and I pulled the generator out as far as it could go, but it did not align the pulleys.

I looked on the generator to see if it was 30 or 38 amp, but could not find anything. I replaced the VR a while back and it was a 30 amp, so maybe the generator is a 30 amp.

The backing plate is concave and the back of the gen sits in the concave area.

Questions: On a '70 bus is the gen supposed to sit in the concave area of the backing plate or could the plate be on wrong? The engine is stock 1600.
Could the generator be the wrong size?

Any insight again would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mike
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Bone stock 1970 non-walkthrough "Station Wagon" bus

[quote="1977_L63H_P27"]As mentioned before, it's a 9-passenger Deluxe. The true "station wagon" of buses.

[Desertbusman]

The stock 38 AMP gen uses stock 38 gen bus backing plates. 30 amp gens use 30 amp backing plates. Sounds like your 30 amp gen is mounted on 38 amp packing plates.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[bigbore]

Plus do you have the right pulley on it? the back half should be cast iron. it is offset diffrent for the bus's 38 amp gen. I see these missing all the time and I don't think you can get new one's at least I haven't seen them for sale.
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where its cold and snowy

[Mike C]

Ok--thanks! Time to study the Bentley on removing the gen and get a new backing plate from the local VW parts house.
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Bone stock 1970 non-walkthrough "Station Wagon" bus

[quote="1977_L63H_P27"]As mentioned before, it's a 9-passenger Deluxe. The true "station wagon" of buses.

[bigbore]

if you want to run the 30 amp just get all the tin and pulley for a bug and it will be all good. make sure you have a 30 amp reg.
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where its cold and snowy

[hazetguy]