fan belts

[futar]

I need a reality check. Starting about eight years ago, I noticed that the fan, generator, etc belts in my Toyhomes needed excessively frequent adjustments. Now that I have the six cylinder, I have the same belt stretching problem. My other vehicle is an Astro which has a serpentine belt with a spring tensioned idler which is self adjusting. Are they making the belts less durable?

[Gulfstream Greg]

I have seen the same problem both with a previous 22r and now our V6. My present belts (I think they are Gates) seem to be doing OK except for my AC belt but that setup is not normal as I have a 4runner compressor and mounting bracket. and I have a feeling the alignment is slightly off even though toyota says all the other pulleys are the same for the pickup and 4runner. The alternator was the worst and at first I thought I was not getting the bolts tight enough.

[Bunneys]

My power steering belt always comes loose... I always thought it was me, but maybe I'll try changing the belt

[dodad]

any one have right part no. for the 3.0..... all belts tryed the adv parts store belts .did not last six mo. and lose too big .any help app thanks.Dodad

[chief]

any one have right part no. for the 3.0..... all belts tryed the adv parts store belts .did not last six mo. and lose too big .any help app thanks.Dodad

DODAD, Here,s what I have on belts info for my 3.0 93/94 Dolphin:

Alternator Toyota Serpentine Mitsubishi 4 pk 1185 R34-7

E217044/45

Masterpro 470k4mk

Dayco 5040470

Gates K040470

Good year 4040470

Napa 25-040470

AC Toyota 99332-10890

V-Belt Good year

Denso 90871-08905

Master pro 9355 17355 1/2 " X 36" OC

Power steering Toyota 90916-02196

Master pro 17480

Dayco 17480

Gates 9480

Good year 17481

Napa 25-12205, 259480

Maybe somewhere in those numbers is something that will work for you. Happy camping, Chief

[Diesel_Aggie]

I have similar problems. Have to tighten the belt at 200 miles and replace at 400. Got very good at this when I drove it home from OR. I too suspect poor pulley alignment. What I noticed when I entered all the previous service data into my database was that the problem started shortly after the water pump was replaced. I have a new pump from NAPA but have not had the chance to replace it and see if there is a change. What is wierd is that there is no squeal with a new belt. It all looks and sounds good.

Another important point is that just because an aftermarket belt "crosses" over to the stock one does not mean it is correct. I ran into this on a 1982 VW Rabbit diesel pickup. The correct VW belt was halfway between any of the replacement belts the chain stores had. Small was too small and wouldn't fit, large was too large, would not get tight and slipped. All the stores insisted it was correct. It wasn't. Getting the correct length belt from a German parts supplier solved the issues. I have not done the research on the Sunrader to see if this may apply. Was anyone with this problem running Toyota dealer belts?

Also check for any gouges or corrosion in the pulleys.

I don't know enough about Toyotas but maybe a later version of your engine used a serpentine set up and you can convert. Or there may be some aftermarket conversions available. I personally hate V-belts.

[Gulfstream Greg]

My present belts (I think they are Gates) seem to be doing OK except for my AC belt but that setup is not normal as I have a 4runner compressor and mounting bracket. and I have a feeling the alignment is slightly off even though Toyota says all the other pulleys are the same for the pickup and 4runner.

I pulled my A/C belt and ran my finger(s) around the inside of the pulleys. I found that the engine pulley was far from smooth. So I got some fine grit sand paper (the type that you put on a sanding block for sanding Sheetrock joints during taping) and was able to bring the surfaces down to a smooth feel. I had thought that the belt running on the pulley would clean the rust off and smooth things on its own. But it did not. Since there was no belt when we bought her that pulley may have been rusting for some time. Getting ready to take a trip where we will have to use the A/C so in a couple of weeks I will post back with the results. Any how my wild (really wild) guess is the ruff surface may have had something to do with the belt being slowly eatin' away.

[Maineah]

Slipping belts ware a groves in the pulleys if you see a gap on the pulley face with a straight edge against it, it maybe impossible to keep them from squealing without replacing the pulley. I could not agree more with the flat belt ideal they have so much more surface area.

[Diesel_Aggie]

I've done some research concerning serpentine belts for the 22R/RE. It is not promising. I looked at the NAPA website and up thru 1995 (last year of 22RE in USA) they still use V-belts. I looked at LC Engineerings website and found nothing. I spent 30 minutes on Google trying to find anyone who had done this and no luck.

At this point, I don't think there is an easy factory style update. There is the chance the 22RE was sold in other countries and in later years with a serpentine belt setup. I don't have an easy reference to search for this. The only other option would be to do your own engineering/research by trial and error with salvage yard parts and I don't think that is a very realistic option.

I'd like to hear more from other posters concerning when/how their problem started, what belt is affected, what type of belts you are running and anything you have done that helped the problem.

Maineah: Aren't you a professional technician? Aren't there some tools on the market with a laser sight that are made to check pulley alignment? My memory tells me I've seen such in the past but I couldn't locate any when I searched.

[Maineah]

I've done some research concerning serpentine belts for the 22R/RE. It is not promising. I looked at the NAPA website and up thru 1995 (last year of 22RE in USA) they still use V-belts. I looked at LC Engineerings website and found nothing. I spent 30 minutes on Google trying to find anyone who had done this and no luck.

At this point, I don't think there is an easy factory style update. There is the chance the 22RE was sold in other countries and in later years with a serpentine belt setup. I don't have an easy reference to search for this. The only other option would be to do your own engineering/research by trial and error with salvage yard parts and I don't think that is a very realistic option.

I'd like to hear more from other posters concerning when/how their problem started, what belt is affected, what type of belts you are running and anything you have done that helped the problem.

Maineah: Aren't you a professional technician? Aren't there some tools on the market with a laser sight that are made to check pulley alignment? My memory tells me I've seen such in the past but I couldn't locate any when I searched.

I would guess you could use a laser level it will project a nice straight line. The only problem with a serpentine belt is getting every thing in line. The newer 2.7 Toyota truck uses a pair of flat belts I'll look at my 97 and see if maybe that set up is usable.

[Derek up North]

I won't argue that you might be experiencing problems, but given that the 22R is such a common, popular and long lived engine world-wide, you'd think that if there was a really common problem with the belts that someone would be selling an upgraded system.

[Maineah]

One of the issues with slipping belts is charging two or more batteries the alternator is working far harder then was expected of it. One answer would be to increase the alt. pulley size for more torque but that would reduce the output at slower speeds. I had a look at my 2.7 Toyota it uses flat belts on every thing A/C, power steering, and the alternator. It looks as if some of the parts could be used on a 22RE the crank pulley is a maybe, would it fit the 22RE? No way of knowing with out trying. The A/C would require a replacement compressor the fan/water pump pulley seems to have the same bolt spacing. It would be a really project to retrofit the old 22RE no matter how it would be done as so many parts would have to be changed so I guess we are stuck with old technology unless you have very deep pockets.

[centralman]

One of the issues with slipping belts is charging two or more batteries the alternator is working far harder then was expected of it. One answer would be to increase the alt. pulley size for more torque but that would reduce the output at slower speeds. I had a look at my 2.7 Toyota it uses flat belts on every thing A/C, power steering, and the alternator. It looks as if some of the parts could be used on a 22RE the crank pulley is a maybe, would it fit the 22RE? No way of knowing with out trying. The A/C would require a replacement compressor the fan/water pump pulley seems to have the same bolt spacing. It would be a really project to retrofit the old 22RE no matter how it would be done as so many parts would have to be changed so I guess we are stuck with old technology unless you have very deep pockets.

This maybe something worth considering:

I am thinking of upgrading my existing OE alternator (from a 87 22RE) to using a GM 12SI (Lester #7279SE) which has an output close to 100amp. In fact, many people seemed to have done this upgrade with ease and no problem. All you need is a kit from Trail Gear and a GM alternator, which should be easy enough to get, it might just get rid of the fan belt problem as well.

I would like to ask if anybody can provide me with detail instruction (preferably with some illustration) how I could hook up another deep cycle battery in my MH since the house battery compartment is so small. Thanks for your suggestion and help. If I could do that then I would definitely upgrade my existing alternator with a GM one.

[Maineah]

This maybe something worth considering:

I am thinking of upgrading my existing OE alternator (from a 87 22RE) to using a GM 12SI (Lester #7279SE) which has an output close to 100amp. In fact, many people seemed to have done this upgrade with ease and no problem. All you need is a kit from Trail Gear and a GM alternator, which should be easy enough to get, it might just get rid of the fan belt problem as well.

I would like to ask if anybody can provide me with detail instruction (preferably with some illustration) how I could hook up another deep cycle battery in my MH since the house battery compartment is so small. Thanks for your suggestion and help. If I could do that then I would definitely upgrade my existing alternator with a GM one.

Note that they say you will lose your charge light, also if you have slipping belts now it maybe worse with a bigger alternator same belt set up. You are only gaining 30 amps is it worth it? I charge 3 batteries with the stock alternator at 60 amps. I added a 120 amp battery in a small storage compartment room definitely is at a premium what ever you do it needs to be vented with fresh air and it's best outside of the living area. You can parallel the batteries with some heavy cables. Are you using an inverter or some thing that uses a lot of power?

[Gulfstream Greg]

I pulled my A/C belt and ran my finger(s) around the inside of the pulleys. I found that the engine pulley was far from smooth. So I got some fine grit sand paper (the type that you put on a sanding block for sanding Sheetrock joints during taping) and was able to bring the surfaces down to a smooth feel. I had thought that the belt running on the pulley would clean the rust off and smooth things on its own. But it did not. Since there was no belt when we bought her that pulley may have been rusting for some time. Getting ready to take a trip where we will have to use the A/C so in a couple of weeks I will post back with the results. Any how my wild (really wild) guess is the ruff surface may have had something to do with the belt being slowly eatin' away.

An update to the above. 400 miles out and the belt is not slipping. I have not crawled under to check it. So I guess cleaning up the engine pulley helped out. We ran the A/C almost all of the 400 miles so there was definitely some load on it. 400 more for the return trip, we'll see if it makes it!

[centralman]

Note that they say you will lose your charge light, also if you have slipping belts now it maybe worse with a bigger alternator same belt set up. You are only gaining 30 amps is it worth it? I charge 3 batteries with the stock alternator at 60 amps. I added a 120 amp battery in a small storage compartment room definitely is at a premium what ever you do it needs to be vented with fresh air and it's best outside of the living area. You can parallel the batteries with some heavy cables. Are you using an inverter or some thing that uses a lot of power?

Update: I did do the conversion while I had the RV in the mechanic shop. It was good timing too because apparent the alternator bracket was cracked. Output is good, the only downside is that both the brake and charge warning light came on (albeit it was a weak light of both), when I pull the hand brake the brake warning light grows brighter.

NOTE: After the conversion I did a 700 mile trip. Headlights are brighter I noticed. No noticeable difference in fuel consumption.

[Maineah]

If you add a light you can make it work, the Toyota uses a relay and is not compatiable with the GM alt. One side of your added light will need +12v via the key the other side to terminal 1 on the alt. Terminal 2 either to the big terminal on the alt or to some thing that has 12v power. Usually the GM alt. with a voltage gauge had a resistor on the #1 terminal and the other side to 12+ if that's the case remove the resistor and plug in the light wire.

[centralman]

If you add a light you can make it work, the Toyota uses a relay and is not compatiable with the GM alt. One side of your added light will need +12v via the key the other side to terminal 1 on the alt. Terminal 2 either to the big terminal on the alt or to some thing that has 12v power. Usually the GM alt. with a voltage gauge had a resistor on the #1 terminal and the other side to 12+ if that's the case remove the resistor and plug in the light wire.

Thanks Maineah I am not very mechanically inclined but next time I put the car into the mechanic shop I will let my mechanic aware of this and see if he could do anything about it!