Hi,
I wanted to get a few opinions about a belt problem I have with my car. I just picked it up last Saturday and I drove it 400 miles till Tuesday and after I got off the gas from a full boost run, the charge system fault light came on and I lost power steering. It was a shredded belt. I took the car back to the place I had the work done at and they put a new belt on it and said it must have just jumped off. Then I picked the car up Thursday and today with about 150 miles on it, the belt fell off, but the belt isn't shredded, it is just loose. I called the guy back and he said that there is a pulley or bracket between the power steering and the hamonic balancer that must have snapped. He said he had put a modified stock pulley or bracket on it. He said that if that is the case, he'll have to try another stock modified one and if that snaps, hell have to get a billet bracket. Does anyone have any opinions? Thanks for any help you could offer. Nick.

BTW: The car has a PTC Vortech supercharger kit, Comp Cams cam, TPIS headers, Corsa x-pipe and exhaust. The car made 538RWHP on the dyno. He also said that when the car is going down the road, the intercooler is getting a lot colder and the car should be doing 550-560RWHP, and he said this may have caused the bracket to break. Thanks again for any help.

 

A cold bracket caused the power steering bracket to break. Riiiiiiight. Sounds like the same bunch of 'professionals' that originally setup my kit worked on your car. Give ECS a buzz and get the upgraded power steering bracket. I also purchased a laser alignment tool to get all of the pullies aligned just right.

Good Luck,

Mark

 

My first thought would be belt alignment!

Roy

 

The biggest problem with most kits is pulley alignment. It's worse with Vortech because they move components around. My car had terrible problems until the pulleys were aligned correctly. Once the pulleys are aligned you won't have any problems. My motor is a 427 with 10.5 psi and it makes over 640 at the wheels with no belt problems. It's got plenty more but the fuel system needs to be upgraded.

 

Where should I go to get the pulleys aligned? To a performance shop? Thanks.

 

You need to find a place that has done some of these kits. If you call Vortech ask for Todd Armstrong and tell him what the problem is. 805-385-9620. Bypass Jamie if you can.

 

The guy used to work for PTC and he has multiple cars in his shop with the same kit, 1 making over 750 RWHP. He seems very knowledeable in corvettes and is a Corvette specialist, but you never know, he may not have aligned the pulleys correctly. Ill try to call Vortech and see what they say. Does anyone know what bracket he is talikng about? Is that possible?

 

Hey guys,

Actually, there is some merit to what he's saying. Older power steering pump brackets on our cars had a really weak idler setup. The arm that sticks out that supports the idler could snap with a lot of tension. The ECS kit addresses this weakness by performing some proprietary modifications, but if you don't need the rest of the ECS kit, you can generally solve this problem but replacing your power steering pump bracket with the latest version from GM. They are much stronger.

I too would suspect that idler popped off if your belt isn't shredded and is just sitting there loose. But you really have to be running a fair amount of tension to make this happen.

FWIW, I fought belt issues on my car for months and could never really resolve them. It wasn't until I had already installed my turbos and had pulled off my factory power steering pump that I saw that my new power steering pump with the pulley on it did not align well with my old power steering pump -- it was about 1 rib off.

My advice -- if any of the pulleys on your car have been removed and reinstalled, have a shop check alignment with a laser very carefully. If your belt jumped off you most likely have an alignment issue. As far as the idler, if you're already breaking the NEW GM bracket, I don't know what to tell you except to call ECS. They have a very elegant solution to this problem, and they might sell it to you as a part rather than asking you to buy their whole bracket/pulley system.

Good luck!

 

I Have a Cerra Vortech kit on My car....I shredded one belt, and now I have Squeaking pulleys! I think it is all related to the tension put on the belts, they have to get it just right. I will be interested to know what you outcome is. And BTW you should be making more than 550 RWHP with all that work done..Cam Etc... Just my .02....
Sam.

 

Is it a 6 or 8 rib setup? With the 8 rib and the older style power steering bracket, they do have a tendency to snap with good belt tension. alignment is crucial.
JB

 

I agree that alignment is crucial, but I don't think it's an 8 rib or 6 rib thing... I think it's a tension thing. Usually 8 rib setups are more aggressive and do have more tension than 6 rib setups, but it's not out of the question that an aggressive 6 rib setup could snap the power steering idler off.

I tore mine clean off on one of my first days out with my D1SC car, so it doesn't take much to do it. A nice downshift into 2nd gear can usually take care of that for you

 

I was lucky enough to have mine break while in third gear (over 100 MPH) while drag racing. $200 tow + $400 part + $300 in labor. Yes, it was a wonderful day.

Cheers,

Mark

 

It is a 6 rib setup running at 8 lbs boost. I will have to look into what bracket was in the car, he said it was a modified stock one, so I dont know if it was newer or older. Also, what do you guys think I should be doing to the rear wheels? The car is FAST, it breaks the tires loose at 60-65 MPH on a third downshift and I have raced and beat a 600 RWHP Mustang GT with 15 lbs boost. I have no fuel issues and have a perfect 12.1 A/F ratio across the dyno graph. I was just wondering. Thanks.

 

Sounds like a nice setup.

Again, if you want a rock solid idler, and that's your only problem, give ECS a call. I had their kit on my car before I went with my twin turbo setup and I can tell you that their idler setup will just not break... also, going with their idler setup is probably cheaper than having a billet bracket put together.

Just give Doug @ ECS a call on Monday and ask if you can buy their power steering idler piece.

 

I am goimg to check and see if it is gone as I couldnt see a thing last night when it happened, I didnt have a flashlight. Also, do you guys think if it is snapped off, that I could use a newer style idler, or would that probably break as well? Thanks

 

Just saw your post,
Chances are you will break the new style bracket also, at least we have anyway. Give me a call on Monday at the shop and I can set you up with the stronger idler. It will most likly be cheaper then a new bracket from GM and easer to install. 609-752-0321

 

ECS' idler setup is the shiznit

 

Yep, the idler is gone. Im gonna talk to te guy who did the work Mon and see what he says, as he said he would install the new one for free. How hard is the install? It looks like the alternator is coming out, but I don't know what else, do you guys think I could do it myself? I am mechanically inclined and I have some buddies that are even more and I probably could get it on a lift if I needed to do it from underneath. Thanks.

 

You can do the idler swap from the top. I am not even sure if it's possible from beneath.

I wouldn't just get a replacement, that sounds like it's your second one? Just get with ECS on Monday. You can buy the parts from ECS and have your guy put it on and never have to worry about it again.

 

UPDATE,
I received my idler bracket from ECS yesterday and put it on today. It wasnt too hard to do, just a little time consuming taking everything apart and putting it back together. The belt is fine now. Thanks everyone for the help and guidance on this issue.
Nick