How to make belt tension adjustment?

Asked by ssamduran Sep 26, 2007 at 12:41 AM about the 1969 Volkswagen Beetle

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I think my overheating problem on my beetle is caused from the belt slipping the pulleys. After a 25 minute drive home from work my generator light comes on at a red stop light, then stalls and I cant start my car till it completly cools down after a half hour. I think I have adjusted the belt tension to max and the belt still feels loose. When i turn the timing pulley manually, you can see the belt slip every one revolution. Does this have to do with my fancy aftermarket chrome pulleys or could it be a bent generator pulley? If not where should I add more spcaer shims to make the belt get more tension? Thanks for your help, Sam

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joecorvair answered 16 years ago

If it's a bent pulley, it would tighten and loosen as you turned it by hand. How old is the belt? It may be stretched too much or glazed. Where do you add shims? If it's between pulley halves, that would loosen the belt, not tightsn it.

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ssamduran answered 16 years ago

Today I went to a bug shop they reccomend I buy 3 shims to put in between the pulley halves and seven before the washer and bolt. Also i picked up a new belt had it measured. The old belt was slightly larger than the old one I had installed previosly. I`ll let you know how it goes once I get it running tomorrow.

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