Hi guys,

Just wondering, does anyone have a diagram of what the power steering belt is supposed to look like? There seems to be multiple grooves on which one big belt or several small belts could fit. I just don't know which is correct. Our belt(s) blew this morning and power steering is a no-go. Help, please!

thanks!
SJ

 

on our 87, IIRC, the power steering came off the A/C compressor pulley. let me confirm this in the driveway right now...

ok, yeah. there's a pair of belts in parallel that go from the crank pulley around the fan+waterpump pulley and the alternator pulley. Then, the outermost pulley slot on the crank has a separate belt that goes to the a/c, and a fourth belt goes from the a/c to the power steering.

catch-22, thats a 1987. its highly probably that different years would be different in varying ways.

 

Gates, Rockauto and others show the same belt count and locations as "pierce" said... 2 crank to fan/pump, 1 crank to A/C, 1 A/C to PS pump.

I borrowed this from our Mitchell online guide (don't tell anyone )

 

I know there are some differences in the years, but maybe only in spacing or something. our 87 240 has had a dead AC for years, and awhile back, it locked up completely, burned out the ac clutch and then burned through the belt.... IPD sells a kit to remount the power steering so you can bypass the a/c entirely, but only for older than 1984 cars.... so we installed a 'new' dead AC compressor, and disconnected the wiring to its clutch so it couldn't accidentally engage. all it does is act as an idler pulley for the power steering :-/

 

Thanks you guys! That was a lot of help and both you guys fixed the problem. I have the 3 belt set-up with room for a 4th for redundancy, I think. It only ever had 3 belts on it, though.... My room mate got it from a guy, from a guy, from a guy, so who knows. Thank goodness we have a mechanic room mate. Hehe. Thanks again

 

My sons' ac compressor on his 89 240dl locked up this morning. Now the power steering does not work. I read some threads about rerouting a new belt between the fan, crank and pump. Will this affect the motor or alternator? They must of put 2 belts on the alternator to fan for a reason.

 

the dual belts to the alternator are just a belt-and-suspenders thing. my 1992 745 turbo doesn't have them, it just has one (but in 1992, they switched to electric fans)

on SOME 240's, you can route a shorter belt just to the power steering, but on others it doesn't work.

 

Thanks. I'd like to get the A/C working again, but his budget does not. So, from what I figure, I can just loose one belt, then just get a long enough one to go from the pump, fan and crank. I read somewhere on here to cut a timing belt inspection plug. I like your analogy on the 2 belts, so it is just a back up plan. I will just take the belt we take off and put it in the trunk.

 

Got it all apart. I'd have to cut the timing tab off the cover if I want to run it from the crank to the power steering pump. If I run it from the crank, fan, to the pump, then I need to cut off the timing belt inspection tab. I think the best option now is to try to find another compressor. And use it like an idler . Does it matter if it has Freon in it? I won't hook up the wire, but won't be refilling it with Freon either.

 

if you never energize the compressor solenoid, then it just works like a big pulley.

do be sure any replacement has a free turning pulley, however, I've seen some that were siezed up (like, the original on our 1987 240... the replacement is just what you're describing).

 

Came across this post, which suggests to me that all three belts should remain on my 1990 Volvo 740 GL wagon. The a/c compressor works, I think, but I have no idea if there is Freon or what have you, so I don't turn it on, except by mistake. I need my power steering belt replaced, along with the fan? belt, and my mechanic said that I don't need to replace the a/c belt if I don't use it.


My question was whether not having that belt would unbalance the crank. I apologize for being so unknowledgeable about this, but hope readers will reply. Thank you.

 

I drove an '89 740 for two years with all the AC stuff under the hood removed. I had no problems with the crank pulley nor the power steering.

 

Thank you. I think I have to have the belt on there if only for aesthetics. Probably a stupid waste of good money, but it's going to bug me. Thank you.

 

my old post, on that 240, the AC and power steering shares a belt, thats why I needed a dummy A/C compressor