Serpentine pully kit (quick fix)

[Frisco69]

I broke down today in the bus thanks to the tensioner bearings on my serpentine kit disintegrating. I had no way of fixing so called the AA.
Whilst waiting I remembered that I had a spare original vw style belt still in the van and wondered if I could force this on to the pulleys to get me home.
I struggled for a while but it wouldn't go on until I flipped it inside out. It got me home which was 4 or 5 miles away so thought I'd mention it on here as I'm sure someone else will have the same problem sooner or later.

So there you go. It's still worth carrying a spare original style belt even if you have a different set up.

As a side note has anyone used "bulleys pulleys" ? They look pretty good to me so might give them a try!!!

 

[Guest]

what was your original system?

Mine is a BDM pulley system, http://www.bmdpulleys.com/index.htm most of the big engines ive seen with serpentine belts are using the BDM system. They use a standard belt that can be bought anywhere and the AA would definitely have it in the back of the van i wondoer would it be worth while measuring it without the tensioner and keeping a belt like this just incase .

BDM use machinists that were voted in the top 10 machine shops in the US and the tensioner bearings are rated to 35000rpm. I checked it out well before buying and on advice from the engine shop to go for this one.

 

[Frisco69]

Hi Johnny,

It's a BDM, same as yours.

 

[Loxy]

Are you defo sure its a BMD serpentine pulley kit (http://www.bmdpulleys.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false???

I bought one a couple of years back & it was actually a Gary Serrano knock off.......

 

[Frisco69]

Are you defo sure its a BMD serpentine pulley kit (http://www.bmdpulleys.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false???

I bought one a couple of years back & it was actually a Gary Serrano knock off.......

Yes it is a BDM.

 

[cunning plan]

What is the advantage of running the serpintine system over the standard crank to alternator set-up?2 oke:

 

[Guest]

Hi Johnny,

It's a BDM, same as yours.

did you contact them and tell them what happened? the tensioner is supposed to be bullet proof.

Modern, quiet, and dependable. Serpentine Belt System stops the problems of broken alternator or generator pulleys and thrown belts. The flat multigrooved belt and idler pulley help reduce drag and lost power while increasing cooling efficiency and reliability. Serpentine Belts run with less noise and heat than old style V belts. Serpentine Belts run silent, true, and outlast V belts many times over.

V belts are much more difficult to adjust, you can throw v-belts easily with wrong tension or poor quality belt and mis-alignment. The serpentine system allows much easier adjustment without shimming or messing around with the alternator and no chance of top pulley stripping out where they go together. They are supposed to be much more reliable especially at high RPM and Serpentine belts stay on like glue compared to the old V-belt system.

they look cool as fook as well.

 

[jacks906]

hi johny
is the top pully on yours smaller than original thus better cooling etc or is the lower pully smaller and you end up getting the same?
dave

 

[cunning plan]

Hi Johnny,

It's a BDM, same as yours.

did you contact them and tell them what happened? the tensioner is supposed to be bullet proof.

Modern, quiet, and dependable. Serpentine Belt System stops the problems of broken alternator or generator pulleys and thrown belts. The flat multigrooved belt and idler pulley help reduce drag and lost power while increasing cooling efficiency and reliability. Serpentine Belts run with less noise and heat than old style V belts. Serpentine Belts run silent, true, and outlast V belts many times over.

V belts are much more difficult to adjust, you can throw v-belts easily with wrong tension or poor quality belt and mis-alignment. The serpentine system allows much easier adjustment without shimming or messing around with the alternator and no chance of top pulley stripping out where they go together. They are supposed to be much more reliable especially at high RPM and Serpentine belts stay on like glue compared to the old V-belt system.

they look cool as fook as well.

Cool, thanks for explaining.. Something else for the shopping list.. :mrgreen:

 

[Guest]

hi johny
is the top pully on yours smaller than original thus better cooling etc or is the lower pully smaller and you end up getting the same?
dave

ive no idea but it does look smaller than stock and i was advised to get a welded balanced fan as the serpentine will increase airflow and at high RPM fan have been known to explode. Ill be doing a sedentry 3500 max :character0032:

if you check out Chico626 on youtube (Chico Performance Racing) nearly every single big turbo'd motor is running the BMD serpentine pulley, some of these motors are putting out 300+ HP at 6000 rpm.

 

[Frisco69]

Well they definately aint bullet proof Johnny. I haven't contacted BDM as I bought the motor off my mate with it already fitted. The motor has been built to rev to 9000rpm (not that I'm ever gonna get any where near that of course) so I'm going to try Bully's Pulleys as these eliminate slippage and don't have a tensioner that could fail.

 

[jacks906]

you could take the idler off go to a bearing specialist and get a better quality one, all you need are the numbers off the bearing wont be anything special about the bearing.

 

[Frisco69]

you could take the idler off go to a bearing specialist and get a better quality one, all you need are the numbers off the bearing wont be anything special about the bearing.

It's all knackered!!! The internal bore that the bearing sits in has picked up and it took a proper beating before it got launched across the engine bay and the bearing it self is gone or atleast I can't find it!!

Any way the point of this thread was to let others know that if the same happens to them it can be temporarily repaired to get you home. I am going to bin the BDM system.

 

[Trikky2]

Its an unfortunate fact of life that the more goodies one buys the more things you have that can go wrong :lol:

 

[Guest]

which BDM pulley have you got and how long ago was it bought?

 

[Frisco69]

which BDM pulley have you got and how long ago was it bought?

I don't know when it was bought johnny as it was in my mates van that I bought a couple of months ago.
I'll take a pic and post here later.

I've had another look at the idler and although it's damaged slightly I think it can be saved. The outer race is actually still there so I'm going to try and get another bearing and fix it. At least if it fails again I know I can do a temporary repair.

 

[Guest]

id be on to BDM im sure they would want to get it fixed for you free, if not id post something on the samba about your quick fix as it may help others who come across this i think ill try to get a thicker v belt as a spare incase it happens to me, ill probably be a bit further than 4 miles from the house but itll get me to a garage i guess

 

[Frisco69]

id be on to BDM im sure they would want to get it fixed for you free, if not id post something on the samba about your quick fix as it may help others who come across this i think ill try to get a thicker v belt as a spare incase it happens to me, ill probably be a bit further than 4 miles from the house but itll get me to a garage i guess

I'll post on thesamba soon Johnny. Good idea!

I've managed to get the remainder of the bearings out. The circlips took a beating so it was a little tricky. I've ordered some high speed bearings from Blue Diamond Bearings. They are £5.50 each. So I'll see how I get on with these. I'll also speak to BMD to see what they can do.

By the way I had to use the van on monday to go to the dentist. I reckon it's done about 10 miles on that V belt. I'm not going to drive it now until it's fixed. I should get it done on tuesday night!