Causes for Chevy 454 belt failure

Rickf1985 · July 29, 2016, 01:56 PM

Every time it squeals it is life out of the belt. I will bet the belt is cracked by now. Better to figure it out at home and not on the side of the road "One of those days" D:oH!

BrianB · July 29, 2016, 02:00 PM

Don't you have a doghouse cover on the inside you can take off and get directly to the top of the engine with?

tmsnyder · July 29, 2016, 02:55 PM

Did you try tightening the belt? The alternator pivots on a bolt to act as the tightener. Just loosen the bolts, rock it over to tighten the belt, and tighten the bolts. This would be from inside the coach after you remove the doghouse.

To change out the belts and hoses, it's fairly easy after blocking up the front end, remove both front wheels, remove inner wheel wells. You can pretty much sit on a bucket in there and work on the engine in the pouring rain and not get wet. It's a dream come true. If yours is tough to get at from the top, try from the wheel well.

Quote from: 87Itasca on July 29, 2016, 12:31 PM
When I bought mine, the PO said he had done the belts when he had the radiator out, going into a little detail about how much of a PITA it was.

That being said, my alternator belt is the one I have problems with. When it's warm out, it will lightly squeal for about 20 seconds or so, then all is fine the rest of the time I drive.

I've got a method now, it's start the engine, toss it in reverse with the foot on the brake, and slowly work the wheel back and forth a couple inches to drop the RPM's down. This results in the belt "catching" much faster than if I just let it high idle. I can watch the alt gauge go from around 12.5V to 14V. Once it's a bit past the halfway mark, all is well. When it's hot, and I restart it, it's never an issue, only when the engine has been sitting.

I've tried a couple times half-heartedly to figure out how the hell I'm supposed to get to this stuff. I can't get far enough under the dash to access the belts, as the A.I.R pumps and accompanying lines get in the way of everything, I can't get to it from the underside because my arms aren't long enough to adjust the alternator.....and I'll be darned if I have to pull that radiator back out, no idea how that's done. I think I just need to tighten the belt a bit, reckon I'll get to it one of these days...

Rickf1985 · July 29, 2016, 06:42 PM

Quote from: tmsnyder on July 29, 2016, 02:55 PM
Did you try tightening the belt? The alternator pivots on a bolt to act as the tightener. Just loosen the bolts, rock it over to tighten the belt, and tighten the bolts. This would be from inside the coach after you remove the doghouse.

To change out the belts and hoses, it's fairly easy after blocking up the front end, remove both front wheels, remove inner wheel wells. You can pretty much sit on a bucket in there and work on the engine in the pouring rain and not get wet. It's a dream come true. If yours is tough to get at from the top, try from the wheel well.

Maybe on a HR but certainly not on a Itasca or Winnebago. The wheelwells are not very spacious for sure.

87Itasca · July 30, 2016, 09:14 AM

I do have a doghouse cover, but the gap between the lower dash and the top of the engine is like a foot at best, and the belts are close to 2' under the dash. I'm a somewhat bigger guy, and I can't seem to get in there to do anything.

I'll get to it, just waiting for it to cool down. I might put 15 miles a month on this thing.

Alternatively, just keep an automatic battery charger onboard, then when the belt does snap, just hook it up to one of the coach batteries, set the switch on DUAL, and keep it on the 80A setting.

Rickf1985 · July 30, 2016, 09:34 AM

And really hope that skinny little AC belt that is famous for flipping off stays on to power the water pump! Quite a gamble.

87Itasca · July 30, 2016, 11:35 AM

Yeah, all kidding aside, I do need to get around to it.

Just not high on the priority list when it's 115* with the heat index, and I'm not planning on taking it anywhere until November. Wait a month or two until it drops a few degrees outside.

tmsnyder · July 31, 2016, 01:35 PM

Both on a P-30 chassis, same year, same tires, same engine, .... I would think access from behind the wheel would be very similar.

Quote from: Rickf1985 on July 29, 2016, 06:42 PM
Maybe on a HR but certainly not on a Itasca or Winnebago. The wheelwells are not very spacious for sure.

Rickf1985 · July 31, 2016, 07:46 PM

Totally different body.

udidwht · August 11, 2018, 04:10 PM

Any of you notice many of the belts listed at your local FLAPS state: 'Except motorhome'
I had my serpentine belt shred on one side after 81XX miles (Gates Micro V K0606525) the local Oreilly had 2 belts and both stated 'Except motorhome. Those belts were both:

1. Gates Micro V K0605252. Gates Micro V K060525HD
Anyhow i had no choice but to purchase another K060525 even though I suspect this is the correct belt. Didn't replace the other 2 given I replaced them all at the same time Jan 2016 ~81XX miles ago. The other 2 belts are Dayco. I did end up readjusting the tension on them yesterday.
I suspect the serpentine went early due to the alternator bearings (rear) fell out roughly 6mos after installing the belts. That caused the shaft to tilt and seize allowing for the belt to spin around the pulley. Caught it rather quickly but it doesn't take much to damage a belt enough to greatly shorten it's life.
Do not have any air pump/s on this rig thank god.