Serpentine conversion?

[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?

[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.

[AndrewBird]

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

[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.

[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]

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]

is the tensioner in good condition?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[SoundByte]

Setting belt deflection makes me crazy, because the OE tensioner brackets are complete garbage. Putting my engine back in, I destroyed two of the three tensioners before getting a single belt remotely tight enough. Good fucking thing I pulled a couple of spares off a scrapyard car. Didn't even end up bothering with the A/C (should probably tear that useless shit out).

Anyway, I hear that the Nissan guys tend to convert to turnbuckles for accessory tension. Is that a thing on M20s? How do you all avoid wrecking those toothed brackets?

[M-technik-3]

Auto-X is alot easier to notice then when your 4 deep in a corner and trying to avoid a spin ahead. A big light on a panel would be better than the small idiot light, be a large idiot light that your driver would/should heed.


As we know, Keith mine did not not heed it and spun the bearings on the M52. Low oil pressure light came on and he drove it anyway.

I am presently looking for a new team. Might just go back to TAG karts. Cheaper.

[tinkerputzer]

If you have time for more than a glance at the cluster during autocross your not going fast enough or the course is a joke. I agree though it is best to have something in the drivers fov. The only reason i noticed it when it happened to me is the alt/wp belt took out the ps belt.

[nando]

Setting belt deflection makes me crazy, because the OE tensioner brackets are complete garbage. Putting my engine back in, I destroyed two of the three tensioners before getting a single belt remotely tight enough. Good fucking thing I pulled a couple of spares off a scrapyard car. Didn't even end up bothering with the A/C (should probably tear that useless shit out).

Anyway, I hear that the Nissan guys tend to convert to turnbuckles for accessory tension. Is that a thing on M20s? How do you all avoid wrecking those toothed brackets?

people forget to loosen the nut on the back first and also over tighten them. they won't strip if you're thoughtful. the ones you had were likely old and already partially stripped. the design isn't too bad but the quality of materials is a little iffy and if you don't loosen the nut on the back you put a lot more force into the teeth than you need to.