Serpentine conversion?

[tinkerputzer]

Like cabriolet said, the belt that drives the water pump also drives the alternator. If the belt comes off of one it's coming off the other too. When the the alt stops spinning all the cluster warnimg lights illuminate thus warning the driver. I had this exact thing happen to me at an autocross. The cause was an under tensioned poor quality belt. Get a decent belt like gates, and tension it per the bently, it's a lot tighter then you think.

[M-technik-3]

Has been talk of conversion of S14's to electric water pump so this might be a viable idea.

Another idea is a volt gauge coming off the alternator, so when voltage drops to zilch it's awarning, or put warning lamp on your panel to signal no voltage/water pump.

[Cabriolet]

the alternator is on the same belt. if you dont notice your dash looking like a Christmas tree and the lack of power - this is driver failure, no added sensor will overcome negligence. also swap the the I waterpump pulley, it is larger and will cause the pump to spin more slowly.

[jlevie]

Temp gauge doesn't work very well when the water isn't being circulated.

This is quite true. By the time the coolant temp sensor reacts to the heat soak the damage is done. The ideal on a race car is to have a secondary, surface mounted, sensor on the head of a race engine. A Smart dash can monitor both sensors, along with cooling system pressure, and throw an alarm if any indicate a problem.

[nando]

is the tensioner in good condition?

[squidrope]

was it necessary to post this in multiple forums?

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=324264

maybe try replacing old belts so they don't break. ;)

Belt was new (1 race old) and things looked aligned

[nando]

was it necessary to post this in multiple forums?

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=324264

ask yourself this.. how many E30s are out there racing with V-belts and how often does a catastrophic failure happen? then figure out the level of effort for a conversion.

maybe try replacing old belts so they don't break. ;)

[squidrope]

Or actually look at the temp gauge and don't overheat the engine. That's what I'd do. :shrug:

Temp gauge doesn't work very well when the water isn't being circulated.

[AndrewBird]

Or actually look at the temp gauge and don't overheat the engine. That's what I'd do. :shrug:

[jules325i]

Stick with the standard setup, just make sure belts are changed often and all the pulleys are nice and inline. Which you probably have already done, just unlucky i guess.

[squidrope]

We race a eta and lost our fan belt. Overheated the engine and warped the head. Has anyone attempted a serpentine conversion? Can this be done?