E 350 V Belt Issue

[Old Goat]

I have a 92 E350 with this same setup. Belts are ALWAYS a problem on this engine. The only thing that works for me is using the Green Gates heavy duty belts. They are thicker and much stronger. The alternator belt gets replaced frequently on mine. I hate that all the other belts have to come off to replace it. Just replaced all mine this week and its about an hour job. The alternator and Power Steering are the same size: Gates 9580HD and the A/C is Gates 9630 HD. The vacuum pump isn't picky but should be tightened after the alt. I use a 1 1/8 wrench on the end top of the alternator and tension the belt. The other way with a bar on the thermostat housing works too. If the pulleys are aligned right, you will like the HD Gates belts much better.

I use the same belts, and have never had a problem.

Note: Be sure to use Lock-Tite on the vacuum Pump Bolts.
About 2 weeks back coming home from Las Vegas, Nv. towards
Carson City in the middle of the night on Hwy95. It`s a 2 lane
State Hwy goes through every wide spot and has at least one
hungry Cop on the pay roll...
get into Hawthorn around 3Am, (about 70 miles from home)
hear, ting, ting ting of the Fan. Open Hood and no vac Pump belt,
and hanging by one bolt.
Oh well who needs brakes? It`s farm country and almost no
traffic.
next afternoon open Hood and there is the belt neatly tucked
in behind the upper Hose and Alternator....and not tore up.
Iam sure the Lord was watching over me and placed it there,
telling me "I`ll get you home safely".


Goat

 

[Cant Write]

I have a 92 E350 with this same setup.

‘92 must have been a crossover year? As my ‘92 has a serpentine setup.

 

[Cubey]

Yep, I use Fleetrunner belts too.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

The alternator and Power Steering are the same size:

Just to be clear for anyone with questions later. This would be for vans, not trucks.

‘92 must have been a crossover year? As my ‘92 has a serpentine setup.

I believe that it was for trucks. I'm not sure about vans.

 

[Cubey]

I believe that it was for trucks. I'm not sure about vans.

I would have thought 92 would have gone serpentine, with the major Econoline generation change of the body and interior, but who cares knows?

 

[KansasIDI]

Just to be clear for anyone with questions later. This would be for vans, not trucks.

I believe that it was for trucks. I'm not sure about vans.

I am very confused about my truck’s belts. According to what you’re saying, my truck uses van belt lengths. But it is from out of the country, maybe they did things differently in Canada. At any rate, other than replacing the belts when I first got the truck, I’ve had no issues there.

I do have everything I would need to swap to serpentine, but I don’t mind V belts.

 

[KansasIDI]

who cares

A handful of us like to collect mostly irrelevant information

 

[Cubey]

I am very confused about my truck’s belts. According to what you’re saying, my truck uses van belt lengths. But it is from out of the country, maybe they did things differently in Canada. At any rate, other than replacing the belts when I first got the truck, I’ve had no issues there.

I do have everything I would need to swap to serpentine, but I don’t mind V belts.

Vans (at least through 91 for sure) had Saginaw power steering pumps, which trucks didn't. So, presumably, that's why vans use same belt for both. The pulley/pump probably mounts a bit differently.

But perhaps trucks can use 9580 for power steering also, as an alternative size.

 

[Cubey]

A handful of us like to collect mostly irrelevant information

Stupid phone autocorrect, changing the words I typed. It was supposed to say "who knows", not "who cares".

I swear, this phone does very rare random crap, just because it's old. ie: trying to make me feel i need a new one, after 4 years of using this one.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Vans (at least through 91 for sure) had Saginaw power steering pumps, which trucks didn't. So, presumably, that's why vans use same belt for both. The pulley/pump probably mounts a bit differently.

This is why I said that. There probably wasn't much choice due to the narrower engine compartment. As for non USA model trucks, I have no idea.

I swear, this phone does very rare random crap, just because it's old. ie: trying to make me feel i need a new one, after 4 years of using this one.

Mine has recently started adding random words to a text that I don't notice until after it's been sent.