Well, I had a chance to sneak out of work, so....
the new
Gates XL 7300 belt is on. Using the suggested method, I think I got everything set correctly, taking special care not to over-torque the bolt that runs into the block. It was easy to spot&use that square-shaped `nipple` on the engine block in order to stay safe with the heavy duty flat pry bar. (The aluminum housing looks fragile and the lower rad hose is relatively close too.)
It worked nicely.
Result is better than with my previous tightening(s). The belt squeal is gone. Time will tell if Gates is great or not; but it IS better than this bad condition oem belt I had on. omg.
The fluctuation of the
Volt-gauge is not yet gone though (mostly caused by the heater/blower being ON. I started hearing a stupid crap noise from somewhere behind the glovebox area. Kind of hissing I think. Not sure what it is...long ago it was heard Only when blower was set to windshield position... but now i hear it in All positions. Even when the big knob is turned into 0 (zero). Sounds like it`s still blowing air/heat or there must be something going on. (next project) It`s stressing me out and I truly hate it. (At least the heater works, blows hot air nicely.)
The polished surface of the pulley shows where the old belt ran. Because now the new (
wider) belt just can`t sit all the way down in the deep grove, it actually runs on the
rusty area that the crappy belt wasn`t touching at all, for long years. I did not clean the rust off, let`s see what happens.
The Gates belt actually runs `on the
top portion` of the pulley. My pictures well illustrate this concern. The Volvo belt ran differently than the new one. I`ll keep my eyeballs on it, surely I will have to retighten the new belt in the future.
For now, the `top` of the new belt sits literally `higher` than the edges of the pulley. As belt wears, it should sink down...?
(New belt looks finely seated on the
bigger pulley. That pic shows the worn Conti steering belt, also the ac belt missing)