1990 929s alt. belt missalignment

[gettocar]

I need Immed. access to knowledge or a 1990 929s shop/repair man.

Specificly, why has my alt. belt ate a hole in my timming cover? and how do I fix it so it does not happen again, yea, its misalined, but why?

I allready have a new alt. on ($90us) and assumed that the oil that had ruined the old one came from a valve cover gasket (NOT). When I went to tighten the belt on the new alt. I fell over the real problem ie: a neat 1/2 in gash in the timming cover caused by the alt. belt laying against the cover. Yes, I have tried all my usual and unusual sources here in this 3rd world country where I reside ( Ms. gulf Coast). Mr. Boobys (Bobby's) Mazda
is understaffed, undermaned, undermotovated and underwater as far as I can tell. No one else I have talked to has ever heard of this before... me ether, and I have been shadetreeing it since the '60's!

What I really need to Know is what EXCATLY is supposed to go on the alt. mount besides the bracket, 2 bolts and the alt.? Missing spacers? washers? for this I need INFO
I, for the life of me, cannot recall or find records of when it was replaced last ( who done it ?) I've had the car for 7yrs. and know that the alt. could not have lasted that long, but in that time I have had to be very creative in finding comptent and affordable service. I am now atempting to be more creative yet!
Yes, I know, that it is DAMM NEAR IMPOSSIBLE to diagnose or fix somthing without it in hand. That said, I still need to have the man. and or an experianced hand to help me fix this mother.
I have done the straight edge across the offending parts.... and it's still ambigous.
I considered a Aggie Engineering fix..... but though that I might try to do it right 1st.
I have wasted 3 wks so far.. 1wk. when I thought that I had purchased a shop man., only to discover, that @Blues Holiday did not ACTUALLY have it in stock. Forget EBAY and books4cars (they have a training man. Not a repair man. I talked to the owner yesterday on the horn).
I have the JB WELD standing by for a fix. (new cover $140us) but that will do me no good unless I can get the alt. out far enough to prevent a repeat.
ps. the Wife christened it the 'gettocar' when the paint started pealing like a boiled potato on the attena stub at 140mph.
please, I need help. I really need to talk, talk w/someone on the horn that has THE BOOK in front of them, will sell me one, or knows how to fix this.
I either mazdaguy or donbryce is willing pls. e me and we'll get together
tks, Pat

[donbryce]

Hi. Thanks for the vote of confidence! I checked the manual, and there is 1 short bolt that goes through the slotted adjuster and into the alternator housing, at the top, and 1 long one that acts a pivot, on the bottom. There are no spacers shown. Next, I looked at my alternator/belt. The belt is about 1/4" away from the plastic timing cover that you have the cut in. There is no way I can see that the right alternator for your car would be too far back to make the belt touch the cover.

I would guess that one of the following might be the cause of this:
- If the alternator wasn't the right one, as in designed for a slightly different bracket, or had the pulley mounted on the shaft inward 1/4" or so more, that would allow the belt to chafe the cover.
- If the adjusting bar/slotted bracket was bent back, that too would put the belt close enough to the cover to rub.
- If the belt were allowed to run too loose, over time, the flapping sideways could eventually cause the cut in the cover.

I frankly can't see how anything would put the cover itself forward that far to touch the belt, and there is no way the crank pulley or water pump pulley can move rearward either.
If you are certain the alternator is the right one, see if the slotted bracket is bent. If so, shouldn't take much to straighten it out (move it forward a bit) so the belt is about 1/4" from the cover. It shouldn't touch if the tension is right.

You mentioned JB Weld as a possible fix for the cover. I'm not sure how well this works on flexible plastic like that. With all the work to remove the cover and re-instal, you want to be sure it won't leak again! I don't have a recommendation here, as repairing that type of plastic (similar to radiator tanks) permanently has always eluded me. I've tried all kinds of stuff, and most epoxies, including JB Weld, will eventually break away, especially on flexible plastic. See if a local body shop has a plastic welding kit, which many do for repairing flexible bumpers. They might be able to weld it up for a fraction of the $140.00 you say a new one costs.

[9ine Deuce]

Ive been using JB Weld on my radiator top tank for a few months now and it never stuck good since the begining, now I have about 8 layers of that crap on and and when it starts to warm up Im gonna redo it and sand it down then do it properly. Do you think to JB Weld is good enough to hold up if I wanna drive back to Vancouver ???

[gettocar]

Don,
TKS, for the fast reply and heads up on the JB Weld.
Do you think that a combo of a sheetmetal patch over a formed rubber/ plastic plug to fill to the groove and some sort of sealant would do the trick?
I will tear this thing down for further inspection before I decide which way to go.
The bracket itself seems to be straight upon visual inspection, but I will investigate further.
To get a 1/4 in. space out from the cover I would also have to gain at least another 1/4 in. (minmum) to get it off the cover to begin with (for a 1/2 in all)? That is a load.
I have an idea when this happened..... but, it involves some needy and less than reliable in-laws, 'nuff said about WHO
The WHAT involves a really good smack to the front end while they had the gettocar (I got an all-to obvious stroke-job story out of that one). Enough to make her cross-eyed (did some lasic surgery to correct her vision) but not enough to get into the the frame mounts for the raid. and such. Whiplash for an alt. mount???? My next stop may be a automotive chriopractor.
Unfortunely, durring this latest orgy of compassionate, yet uncaring, round of conservitsum, ( if you ain't RICH you ain't RIGHT!) the gettocar and I have both been downsized and are no longer covered under major medical.
Again, I thank You.
I will keep you informed as to any and all progress, as you have been kind enough to care and to help.
I just wish that I could get her to an appointment with Dr. Mazdaguy for some loving care and attention.
TKS again all.

[donbryce]

[quote]To get a 1/4 in. space out from the cover I would also have to gain at least another 1/4 in. (minmum) to get it off the cover to begin with (for a 1/2 in all)? That is a load.

If it's touching the cover now, and you mention a minor collision, then I think that is the likely source of the misalignment.
For the plastic cover repair, I'd see if there is enough clearance behind the cover to allow you to apply the sealant (or JB, or whatever) between a patch piece (cut from a donor, or try plastic 3 ring binder insert) and the cover, then use some pop rivets to hold it tight. You could also hammer the back of the rivet down to almost flush with the inside surface.

9ine: I'd remove all the JB, cut a patch piece, and repair same way. I'll stop short of recommending an alternative to JB though, as I don't have one. The problem is that the radiator water is under pressure, and hot too, so that will always try and push its way out, breaking the not-so-good bond with the plastic. The riveted patch should prevent this. Make sure you apply a dab to the rivet hole before inserting and squeezing.

[9ine Deuce]

whats a rivited patch ??? I was just gonna sand it all the way down to the pastic and apply it properly and even use a blow drier...

[donbryce]

This is only a suggestion, mind you: Just cut out a small piece of plastic material, big enough to cover the crack/hole, and 'glue' it in place with your JB or whatever. A heat gun might be useful to contour it first. Then, drill a couple of 1/8" holes and pop-rivet the patch tightly to the rad. Put a smear of JB (or whatever) over the hole or on the rivet so it won't leak through the rivet itself.

[gettocar]

Mystery solved!
Finally did what I knew I should'a done 3wks ago. Removed the fan and shroud, degreased everything, and properly inspected.
(when all else fails, do it RIGHT next time!)
Yea, it was whiplash, but not to the metal parts. The PLASTIC tim.cover split all along the inside corner where it flanges-out to mate to the engine. Just low enough not to be obvious to see from the top, but definately allowing the cover itself to project into the belts path. ie: new cover cometh.
As I have ZERO faith in 929 plastics, having allready rebuilt the instrment. panel and steering col. cover and door map pocket
only to have them fall apart again, a used cover is out of the question.
Any suggetions as to a cheaper source for a new tim. cover than Mazda?
9ine Duece---- Mazdaguy is absolutly correct. I would never have considered a plastic (definately NOT 929 plastic) patch if the part was under pressure! Take it to a raidiator shop or replace it, preferably with a metal one, if available.
Since I must remove the Tim. Cov. anyway, I would love to go ahead and do the timming belt as well. It was last replaced at 100k when I bought it (162k at present). What is the service life of this belt? I would NEVER consider attempting this job without a THE BOOK , and since I cannot afford to pay someone else to do it, like the last time, so, I'm back to square-one...... how do I lay my grubby little paws on one?
TKS, again for all the help
.

[gettocar]

Sorry All,
I ment to thank donbryce, not mazdaguy, for the help.
My bad.
I was just distracted by Clint, (a 22yr. old, rent free ((for now)) boarder), friend of Jason (son, 25yrs. back at home, allmost a college grad. 2yrs. ago, HA)
He just got a job at an automotive sound & acc. shop as an installer. Seems to have a knack for it as they heap more and more responsiblity on him everyday. Sales, mkting, rims, etc.
If anyone needs auto sound, rims, etc. 'e' me and I'll see if he can save ya some $.

[gettocar]

9ine Deuce
I don't know your $ situation, but , I was just looking for a tim. cov. and found a site for a new 929 3lit. raid. for $160, If your interested go to autobodypartsonline.com and chase it down.
if I had your e add I would send a link.
gettocar