Hello All:

I decided to take advantage of our "warm" weather to replace all the drive belts on my '92 245. I installed them all (it was a bit of a struggle to get them over all the pulleys-- it is still -5C. When I started it up, there was a horrible squeal and a shower of sparks-- turns out the alternator fan was hitting the adjuster bracket. Am I correct that on the '92 there is only the one 13 mm bolt under the water pump that maintains tension, and that the only way to adjust the tension is to pry downward on the alternator and then tighten it? The AC and power steering both have the adjusters with the the 10mm long bolts and the 12-13mm nut to keep things in place once you get it right...

Help me out here-- I'm getting cold and it is more than a little frustrating! One possibility is that the belts that Canadian Tire sold me might actually be too short, resulting in a collision between the alternator fan and the bracket, but the stupid packaging doesn't say what the length actually is...

The belts they sold me are Power Torque 15365 and they also have the code 14-0500-8 on them in case that helps anybody...


I look forward to hearing from you!
--
Herb Goltz, London, Ontario, Canada '92 245 w/102K mi

You're not correct about the adjustement method- though you HAVE to do this after the adjuster bolt breaks.

There should be a very long M6 bolt with a 10mm head, roughly parallel to the belts, on top of the alternator. It's threaded through 2 parts of the bracket, and its head faces the right fender. Can be a little hard to figure out.

You loosen the 13mm lock nut that faces forward, then tighten this bolt. If yours is broken or missing, the PS pump and teh AC compressor both use the same bolt arrangement though some brackets are different.

This happened on my 87 244, and I actually had a loose bottom bolt and lousy bushings besides. The "accesory bushings" are a few bucks each. These help keep the thing straight. IF the belts are running at a significant angle, and nothing is broken ro missing, then the bushings need replacement.
If you can tighten the alternator, you can replace the bushings- they're a fairly snug fit in the alt, PS, and A/C brackets.

Good luck with it!
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 225K, 88 744GLE- 209K, 91 244 183K. Also responsible for the care and feeding of: 88 745GLE, 229K, 88 244GL, 146K, 87 244DL, 235K, 88 245DL, 236K

Hello Rob:

Thanks for your quick and informative response! It looks like somebody broke the 10mm adjuster bracket mechanism-- it isn't there anymore... I was surprised to see that there wasn't one for the alternator belts when there was for the AC and power steering.

I have solved my problem in the short term by prying the alternator down and away from the block and tightening the 13mm lock nut. Before doing this I bent the remains of the crescent shaped slider mechanism upward. It no longer interferes and sounds much better!

When the weather improves I'll hit the boneyards and pick up the adjuster mechanism so that I can do this right the next time!

The bozo who trashed the adjuster mechanism deserves to spend an afternoon in a walk-in freezer...

Thanks for your help!
--
Herb Goltz, London, Ontario, Canada '92 245 w/102K mi

The rubber accessory bushings that support your Alternator, Power Steering Pump, and AC Compressor can start to deform as they get old. When this happens, the various accessory pulleys shift out of axis with the driveshaft, waterpump, and other. This causes belt noise and a slight drag on the engine (and slightly impairs your fuel economy). The worst of the culprits is the Alternator and after 15 years or so, it has usually shifted enough that you can visually see that it's off axis by a significant amount.

Fortunately, replacement rubber accessory bushings are available new from your Volvo dealership for about $9 to $10 each using Volvo part number 463909, and are made by Boge. FCP Groton has the Boge (Volvo) bushings for $7 each, and a cheaper MTC brand for $1.75 each. They also carry Poly Urethane bushings for $5 each and these are similar to IPD's poly accessory bushings ($6 each).

Personally, in an effort to reduce both vibration and pulley twist, I use a Poly Bushing on the upper alternator bracket where it bolts to the engine block, and official Volvo/Boge bushings on the lower two. The upper bushing gets the most stress put on it and you'll probably find that your current one is in bad shape. The lower bushings tend to hold out longer, and by using rubber bushings here you can reduce/dampen some of the alternator vibrations.

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 245, NA 231K

Herb:

It sounds like the belts are indeed too short. If you have the old belts still, a comparison will probably reveal a big difference. As for the adjuster, is it possible it's missing on your car? I don't think Volvo stopped using them in '92, as I have a '92 740 with adjusters for all drive belts. The long thin adjuster bolts have been known to bend or break, and someone, possibly a previous owner or a mechanic of questionable integrity, may have discarded it rather than replacing it.

Hope you find a quick, easy solution.

--
Guid ('88 244DL 245k, '92 745 191k, '00 Mazda MPV 55k)

Hello Greg:

Thanks for your message-- the belts may indeed be a little on the short side-- they were fairly generic looking aftermarket stuff sold by a big Canadian chain store called Canadian Tire (affectionately referred to here as "Crappy Tire"), and it certainly looks like the portion of the adjuster mechanism with the 10mm M6 bolt is long gone. I bent the remains of the adjuster upward so that it clears the alternator fan and tightened down the 13mm lock nut. Good enough for now, later I'll grab proper parts from the junkyard!

Thanks for your quick post-- it was helpful!



--
Herb Goltz, London, Ontario, Canada '92 245 w/102K mi