Replacement Fan Belt - Rover 3.5 V8
Discussion
Following a nice run in the sticks yesterday it all went the way of the pear pretty swiftly.
The car started to overheat forcing me to make an unscheduled stop in the nearest village. Coming to rest in the town square I planned to let the old girl cool down for half an hour and limp the remaining 9 miles or so home….sadly this was not to be !!!
I pulled up in glorious sunshine and within about five minutes the blue skies turned to black and a torrential down pour commenced. I have no weather gear so everything was getting soaked until the nice landlord of the local pub agreed to let me borrow one of his Kronenbourg 1664 garden umbrella’s. Notably The blue umbrella and the orange car actually seemed to compliment each other!
If the attention, gawping and never ending questions you get when driving a Cobra isn’t quite enough for you, try sticking a pub umbrella in it in a town square when it’s pissing down. Just to make everything better I was there for an hour and a half before the breakdown truck arrived. The locals formed quite a crowd, taking pictures, and the barrage of questions seemed endless. Doesn’t it have a roof? Being a firm favourite of mine!!!
In all seriousness the umbrella worked a treat and the car stayed dry. So if you find yourself in a similar predicament (which you probably wont) ask the nearest landlord nicely.
The problem with the overheating was due to the fan belt “disappearing” so I need a new one. Can anyone tell me where I can get a replacement fan belt for a Rover 3.5lt V8 non-air-con version?
Thanks to all
The car started to overheat forcing me to make an unscheduled stop in the nearest village. Coming to rest in the town square I planned to let the old girl cool down for half an hour and limp the remaining 9 miles or so home….sadly this was not to be !!!
I pulled up in glorious sunshine and within about five minutes the blue skies turned to black and a torrential down pour commenced. I have no weather gear so everything was getting soaked until the nice landlord of the local pub agreed to let me borrow one of his Kronenbourg 1664 garden umbrella’s. Notably The blue umbrella and the orange car actually seemed to compliment each other!
If the attention, gawping and never ending questions you get when driving a Cobra isn’t quite enough for you, try sticking a pub umbrella in it in a town square when it’s pissing down. Just to make everything better I was there for an hour and a half before the breakdown truck arrived. The locals formed quite a crowd, taking pictures, and the barrage of questions seemed endless. Doesn’t it have a roof? Being a firm favourite of mine!!!
In all seriousness the umbrella worked a treat and the car stayed dry. So if you find yourself in a similar predicament (which you probably wont) ask the nearest landlord nicely.
The problem with the overheating was due to the fan belt “disappearing” so I need a new one. Can anyone tell me where I can get a replacement fan belt for a Rover 3.5lt V8 non-air-con version?
Thanks to all
Appleman,
any motor factors / car spares shop will do - all you need to do is use a piece of string around all of the pulley wheels (crank pulley, water pump pulley and alterator pulley)- measure the length of the amount of string it took to do go round the 3 pulley wheels and then go and ask for a V belt fanbelt of ???? length - usually quoted now in mm or cm length.
Oh and but 2 (and keep one in the boot) - I "lost" one on the motorway once and had no spare so had a long wait for AA to come, and at only a few quid it's not worth not keeping a spare on board.
cheers
Mark
any motor factors / car spares shop will do - all you need to do is use a piece of string around all of the pulley wheels (crank pulley, water pump pulley and alterator pulley)- measure the length of the amount of string it took to do go round the 3 pulley wheels and then go and ask for a V belt fanbelt of ???? length - usually quoted now in mm or cm length.
Oh and but 2 (and keep one in the boot) - I "lost" one on the motorway once and had no spare so had a long wait for AA to come, and at only a few quid it's not worth not keeping a spare on board.
cheers
Mark
AppleMan said:
Rush,
Thanks for you response on this. Have you ever fitted a fan belt? If so could you give me a few pointers.
Cheers,
Appleman
Oh dear ;o(Thanks for you response on this. Have you ever fitted a fan belt? If so could you give me a few pointers.
Cheers,
Appleman
And you are a member of the pistonheads community and own a kit car!!!!!!!
This should be a job you can do with your eyes closed.
There is a thing on the front of your engine called an alternator It will probably have the smallest pulley (Grooved wheel) on it. One of the bolts that holds this passes through a slotted bracket. If you slaken this bolt the alternator will be able to rotate around its other fixing towards the other pulleys. This allows you to fit the new belt. Once the belt is on you will need to apply tension to the belt by rotaing the alternator on its pivot point and then once tight (ie. no more than 12mm of play in the belt........Sod it I'm losing the will to live. Join the AA.
P.S. when the AA guy fixes your car watch and learn.
Edited by Dave Dax builder on Monday 11th June 20:16
Dave,
I was just about to start mouthing off at your fairly condescending response regarding my fan belt issues. However, prior to starting my written abuse I thought I would check out your site and credentials. Nice site and car by the way!
You are correct that I am a greenhorn kit car owner and a member of the piston heads community, and indeed with little ability on the spanners. However, the point I think I was making is that I am willing to learn. Sure I can afford the car and any associated repairs but as stated having someone else fix any problems is not in the spirit of ownership.
I was under the impression that a forum such as this is for the people in the know to help the people who want to know. It would be nice to think this simple principle could be achieved without making people feel like a knob.
Clearly you are a man with a great passion for Cobra replicas having made this your profession and area of expertise. If I started discussing my profession I undoubtedly feel you too would be swiftly and equally baffled.
Anyway, thanks for your response just keep the patronising aside when posting on other peoples topics.
I was just about to start mouthing off at your fairly condescending response regarding my fan belt issues. However, prior to starting my written abuse I thought I would check out your site and credentials. Nice site and car by the way!
You are correct that I am a greenhorn kit car owner and a member of the piston heads community, and indeed with little ability on the spanners. However, the point I think I was making is that I am willing to learn. Sure I can afford the car and any associated repairs but as stated having someone else fix any problems is not in the spirit of ownership.
I was under the impression that a forum such as this is for the people in the know to help the people who want to know. It would be nice to think this simple principle could be achieved without making people feel like a knob.
Clearly you are a man with a great passion for Cobra replicas having made this your profession and area of expertise. If I started discussing my profession I undoubtedly feel you too would be swiftly and equally baffled.
Anyway, thanks for your response just keep the patronising aside when posting on other peoples topics.
http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/rimmer/rover/v8engine/...
should find all you need here,a workshop manual will help with the basic maintenance of the lump
should find all you need here,a workshop manual will help with the basic maintenance of the lump
Apple man,
seems like we've had another "handbags at dawn" incident on the forum ! (gives us a laugh though).
Haynes Rover SD1 Manual should be an essential buy I think....
Yes I've fitted 2 belts to my mates / brothers TVR 350i and one to my Dax 4.6ltr Rush.
As Dave started to advise, loosen by about 1 turn the single through bolt (or 2 shorter bolts) which hold the alternator to the mount which connects it to the engine block so it will be able to pivot when you undo by approx 2 or 3 turns the pinch bolt which goes through a sloted arm on the front of the alternator. Alternator should be on front top righthand side of the engine on 3.5V8 and has a small approx 2" pulley wheel. With the pinch bolt loosened the alternator should droop left and down. Now put V belt over the crank pulley (at very bottom of engine front cover plate just above the sump , then over the approx 5" diameter pulley wheel on the water pump which is above the crank pulley next to the distributor cap, and finally around the alternator pulley.
Beware - you probably have 2 V slots in the crank pulley (cos the rover used it to also drive a Power Steering Pump) so you need to use a plumb-bob from water pump pulley centre of the V to see which V slot on the crack pulley is the right one - if you get it misaligned onto the wrong crack pulley V then the belt will come off in a few seconds even if tensioned up correctly !!
Once belt is on and aligned, use a piece of wood or a hammer handle or similar to gently lever the alternator back up so that the uppermost face of the belt between the water pump and alternator pulley is tight, and pinch up the alternator pinch bolt. Check the tension using your thumb to push the belt downwards at the midpoint between the water pump and alternator pullies - as dave said there should be 10-14mm of vertical "give" in the belt : too tight and you'll wear out the waterpump / alternator bearings, too loose and you'll have the belt come off again after a few miles of use when it starts to warm upa nd "give".
DON'T FORGET TO RETIGHTEN THE ALTERNATOR PIVOT / RETAINING BOLT (or 2 short bolts depending on how it has been fitted and on what sort of bracket the alternator is mounted).
Check and re-tension the belt for the first few hundred miles as required, and then check it every couple of months to make sure it isn't still slackening and that its condition looks OK.
Good luck , get a Haynes manual, and don't be put off using the forum : you'll not always get the response you want to hear , but usually you'll at least wake someone up out there and get something!
seems like we've had another "handbags at dawn" incident on the forum ! (gives us a laugh though).
Haynes Rover SD1 Manual should be an essential buy I think....
Yes I've fitted 2 belts to my mates / brothers TVR 350i and one to my Dax 4.6ltr Rush.
As Dave started to advise, loosen by about 1 turn the single through bolt (or 2 shorter bolts) which hold the alternator to the mount which connects it to the engine block so it will be able to pivot when you undo by approx 2 or 3 turns the pinch bolt which goes through a sloted arm on the front of the alternator. Alternator should be on front top righthand side of the engine on 3.5V8 and has a small approx 2" pulley wheel. With the pinch bolt loosened the alternator should droop left and down. Now put V belt over the crank pulley (at very bottom of engine front cover plate just above the sump , then over the approx 5" diameter pulley wheel on the water pump which is above the crank pulley next to the distributor cap, and finally around the alternator pulley.
Beware - you probably have 2 V slots in the crank pulley (cos the rover used it to also drive a Power Steering Pump) so you need to use a plumb-bob from water pump pulley centre of the V to see which V slot on the crack pulley is the right one - if you get it misaligned onto the wrong crack pulley V then the belt will come off in a few seconds even if tensioned up correctly !!
Once belt is on and aligned, use a piece of wood or a hammer handle or similar to gently lever the alternator back up so that the uppermost face of the belt between the water pump and alternator pulley is tight, and pinch up the alternator pinch bolt. Check the tension using your thumb to push the belt downwards at the midpoint between the water pump and alternator pullies - as dave said there should be 10-14mm of vertical "give" in the belt : too tight and you'll wear out the waterpump / alternator bearings, too loose and you'll have the belt come off again after a few miles of use when it starts to warm upa nd "give".
DON'T FORGET TO RETIGHTEN THE ALTERNATOR PIVOT / RETAINING BOLT (or 2 short bolts depending on how it has been fitted and on what sort of bracket the alternator is mounted).
Check and re-tension the belt for the first few hundred miles as required, and then check it every couple of months to make sure it isn't still slackening and that its condition looks OK.
Good luck , get a Haynes manual, and don't be put off using the forum : you'll not always get the response you want to hear , but usually you'll at least wake someone up out there and get something!
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