When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Okay I am at my wit’s end with this car, and I’ve only had it for 4 months. I’ve driven it less than 1500mi because it’s been in the shop the entire time. Here's what's up:
May 2018
-Had car inspected by Hedrick’s Chevrolet in Fresno, CA prior to purchase. Got the green light. Bought the car – ’08 base mn6 w/30k miles, a P1SC1 on a 4.36” pulley pushing 5lbs of boost. Car is otherwise bone stock. Supercharger has been installed since 9k miles.
June 2018:
-First shredded belt. 1 rib ripped completely off.
July 2018:
-Lots of research later, I had to ship my entire head unit in to Procharger and have it rebuilt & replace seals (due to throwing a belt).
-put it all back together. Installed brand new tensioner pulley as well. Installed Gates K060895 belt (as per Procharger rec). Shredded it.
-purchased laser alignment tool, (Dayco alignment tool – does not require calibration as it uses a laser line, not a dot) found SC pulley was out of alignment, added shim on bracket and fixed alignment
-installed another belt. Shredded it.
-installed ANOTHER belt, did a little overkill on break-in this time, didn’t go WOT for 150mi. Checked tension, re-checked tension, and made sure belt was tight again. Finally did a 1-4th pull at WOT. Shredded it.
August 2018
-inspected HB. Found to be wobbling slightly. Replaced with Powerbond 1117SS and ARP bolt. Pinned crank. Torqued to 240 ft/lb. Job went smoothly, did it by the book. (Make note not to ever go back to this Chevy dealership, since they didn’t even notice an obvious problem that Corvettes are known for during their inspection.)
-Shredded another belt after HB install.
Sept 2018
-Double checked alignment, installed new belt, broke it in, tensioned it correctly, triple checked alignment, then shredded it on first WOT pull.
-Re-tightened down tensioner bracket (found to be slightly loose), installed new belt, and did a few 1st-4th WOT pulls. NO BELT SHRED!! BUT, boost was only at 2lbs.
-Checked for boost leaks, found a boost tube clamp was slightly loose, tightened, did another test run with full boost, shredded another belt.
A couple notes:
-belt ONLY shreds at 5k RPM or higher, under 75% or more throttle
-I get a "service electrical system" message on my DIC every time it happens
-Belt always shreds off only 1 rib, and it's always the rib on the side closest to the front of the car
-the tensioner bolt starts to bend under heavy tension. I've spoke with 2 reps from Procharger that have said this should not cause an issue, but i'm skeptical. (See pics.)
So, these are the only remaining solutions I can conclude:
-drop another $700 on an A&A bracket and HOPE it fixes my problem
-buy a brand new Procharger tensioner assembly for $270
-buy a bigger BOV (I’ve read on this thread that this can solve the problem? Although my entire system is stock from Procharger. I can't imagine this is the solution.)
I’m really tired of this. I’ve always dreamed of owning a Vette and now that I finally have one, I can’t even enjoy it, and I’ve spent more than $1 per mile since owning this car just on replacement parts alone. I’m exhausted and ready to give up.
ANY advice or suggestions are appreciated. I’m all ears.
Still an alignment issue. Ditch the PC bracket and go A&A. Look at the one picture, you can see the PC tensioner bolt is bent (very common failure on PC bracket setup). Stop throwing money at the PC bracket and just get the A&A stuff.
I've talked to Procharger on the phone at least a dozen times, and these guys have all told me the bent bolt would not cause any alignment or belt issues, but at this point I am thinking they are wrong.
Still an alignment issue. Ditch the PC bracket and go A&A. Look at the one picture, you can see the PC tensioner bolt is bent (very common failure on PC bracket setup). Stop throwing money at the PC bracket and just get the A&A stuff.
Don't give up, do what Unreal said. Once you solve the problem you'll love the car. I spent 2k finding a loose ground once (don't tell anybody), 9 weeks down. Lost my mind. Still got a twitchy eye lid. Found the problem and love the car again.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
the a&a bracket is miles ahead of the procharger bracket, I would get that and be done with it instead of wasting more money on the procharger setup... when you checked alignment did you only check the blower pulley?... if so you should also check the alternator and power steering pulleys either way, if you haven't done that already it would be a good idea to do it before you spend more money just to make sure... on your tensioner, I believe the mark on the left should be in the middle of the 2 marks on the right, it's possible the belt may be too tight
the a&a bracket is miles ahead of the procharger bracket, I would get that and be done with it instead of wasting more money on the procharger setup... when you checked alignment did you only check the blower pulley?... if so you should also check the alternator and power steering pulleys either way, if you haven't done that already it would be a good idea to do it before you spend more money just to make sure... on your tensioner, I believe the mark on the left should be in the middle of the 2 marks on the right, it's possible the belt may be too tight
I've checked alignment of all pulleys and they're good.
I think I'm tightening the belt down too much, thus causing the i-bolt to bend and rotate the tensioner slightly off-kilter. I tried for the longest time to find how tight to make the belt, to no avail. I have a tool from Dayco to measure belt tension, but no idea how tight it should be, other than "really tight," which is the most descriptive thing I've read anywhere on the internet, lol.
I went ahead and ordered another i-bolt and new copper sleeve from PC. Only $40. I'm gonna see if that will get me on the road until I can find an A&A bracket in my price range. I just can't bear to let her sit there anymore. Thank you all for the advice. I was assuming A&A but wanted feedback from those with more experience.
Don't give up, do what Unreal said. Once you solve the problem you'll love the car. I spent 2k finding a loose ground once (don't tell anybody), 9 weeks down. Lost my mind. Still got a twitchy eye lid. Found the problem and love the car again.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
when you get the replacement parts, set your tensioner in the middle of those 2 hash marks and go make a pull... watch your boost gauge if you have one or datalog it and see if you're making the right boost or losing it... if the belt tension is too loose and it slips then try the next size down belt, you don't want to max your tensioner out like it appears to be
when you get the replacement parts, set your tensioner in the middle of those 2 hash marks and go make a pull... watch your boost gauge if you have one or datalog it and see if you're making the right boost or losing it... if the belt tension is too loose and it slips then try the next size down belt, you don't want to max your tensioner out like it appears to be
Well, it's shipping via FedEx ground, so it'll be here in about 4 months.
I'll try that. Maybe PC told gave me the belt size that's too big for my setup
It might just be the angle that the picture was taken from, but it looks like the bracket is bent. Put a straightedge across the bracket above the tensioner and make sure there are not any gaps. But like everyone else has said get the A&A bracket. I never had an issue with belts with the A&A set up.
Received new i-bolt and collar for the i-bolt. After removing the old i-bolt it was CLEARLY bent, even without any tension.
After installing the new i-bolt and collar and new belt, I couldn't even START the car without it throwing a belt over the top of the supercharger pulley. i-bolt and collar installed exactly as they were removed, all torqued and aligned properly. I give up on this bracket, it's trash. Going A&A route now.
Last edited by theandrewo; 10-01-2018 at 04:35 PM.
Received new i-bolt and collar for the i-bolt. After removing the old i-bolt it was CLEARLY bent, even without any tension.
After installing the new i-bolt and collar and new belt, I couldn't even START the car without it throwing a belt over the top of the supercharger pulley. i-bolt and collar installed exactly as they were removed, all torqued and aligned properly. I give up on this bracket, it's trash. Going A&A route now.
is your belt getting hung up at the water pump and thermostat housing union?check for belt witness marks there
Hung up how so? Rubbing against the t-stat housing?
the A&A brackets say to clearance the water pump area at the thermostat union and the ECS brackets say shorten the 4 boss'es on the water pump for belt clearance.Does your PC system have any special instructions for issues similar to the others?When you said it instantly threw a new belt on start up would make me think something is contacting something somewhere.it shouldn't be throwing belts
Can you have someone crank it for you while you are watching the belt so you might get a better idea of whats happening? If it throws it at startup one would think youd be able to see the issue pretty quick.
I've had someone bump the starter while I watch. The belt pops up over (front of the car side) the edge of the SC pulley just after it passes up and over the tensioner. I cannot see why, but can only imagine it has something to do with the tensioner, but everything looks fine and tensioner is set to where it was previously. I even took the i-bolt and collar back out and reinstalled them again, trying it with 3 different belt adjustments - loose (barely tensioned), medium (adjustment line in between the other two lines on the bracket), and tight (adjusted all the way to the 2nd line on the bracket). Same results all 3 times.
As for the water pump, I don't see any issues with it. The belt doesn't rub on it. The kit was professionally installed prior to purchasing the car, and it's run for 10 years, I can't imagine that problem is just now surfacing?
I really can't wrap my head around it. Last week it ran fine (out of boost) with the bent i-bolt. After replacing the i-bolt I can't even start the car without tossing a belt over the side of the pulley. So, maybe the tensioner just took a final crap on me. I don't see what else it could be at this point.
Have you re-checked w/ laser alignment tool after installing new I-bolt? Seems like spacing of s/c head unit is off but kinda hard to tell w/o seeing the car. Seems like new bracket is best way to go.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
Originally Posted by 1966427
Have you re-checked w/ laser alignment tool after installing new I-bolt? Seems like spacing of s/c head unit is off but kinda hard to tell w/o seeing the car. Seems like new bracket is best way to go.
09-24-2018, 12:46 PM
Keep shredding belts - need advice
