Successful First Start, However………Problem solved

[GWL]

:DYes, after ten years building I had a successful first start today. However, I think while the alternator will turn over, the alternator is causing a lot of resistance and causing the ribbed belt to squeal. The alternator itself got so hot I could not keep my hand on it. The ribbed pulley got so hot I immediately had to pull my hand away. During the few times I had the engine running the noise went away for a bit then came back again. I was able to back the car up and drive forward back into the garage successfully.

So, overall, it was a good day but I’ve got to figure this out before I can properly time it and set the idle. I was able to set the idle so I could walk around the engine compartment and try to locate where the sound was coming from.

Tomorrow, I’ll take the belt off and see how easy it is to turn the alternator over by hand. I had the belt off once but at the time didn’t think it was the alternator and didn’t spin that pulley.

Any thoughts about the alternator? Has anyone known them to cause resistance to turning?

I also have power steering but that turns over easy. I’ve had the chance to turn the steering back and forth to get the fluid in the rack fully and it seems to be working well with ‘no’ leaks.

The A/C compressor also turns over real easy.

I haven’t had a chance to evaluate the water pump as I did not get the engine hot enough to open the thermostat. It also turns over easily.

Again, I’ll pull the belt again tomorrow and evaluate all that is driven by it.

Your thoughts are appreciated, George

[Railroad]

I had something like that happen once. The alt pulley was bottomed out on the alt housing. If you had to change pulleys, you might have failed to swap over the specific washer under the pulley.
If you did not have to do a pulley swap, it would be my first item to check.
What engine, trans, etc are you working on?

[CDXXVII]

A couple other things to check.

Be sure that you have a good proper ground on your engine. A poor ground may create a high load condition.

Also, what is your voltage before and after starting your engine? If the voltage is too high you may have a bad regulator.

[GWL]

Brand new alternator

My grounds are extra good but will check them anyway.

I will check voltage after I go over other things and start it again.

I'm sure the alternator pulley turned over easily several years ago when I put it all together but I'll check it tomorrow.

Engine: Ford 302 bored to 306 from '89 Mustang, totally rebuild by me, with Trick Flow Top End Kit and mild TF cam. T-5 transmission from the '89 Mustang, rebuilt by me.

Thanks, George

[Walt]

George, make sure you have the belt routed correctly and your tensioner is set right.

[rich grsc]

Yep, check the route, and a picture, it could help.

[SJDave]

Don't know the quality of the Alternator you have, but my engine came with a cheapo Summit generic alternator from Levy Racing with the engine. At about 2000 miles on the engine, was driving home 20 miles from a get together with friends and smelled burning rubber. Pulled over, opened the hood, the alternator was RED HOT and the belt in shambles. AAA to the rescue... So yeah I guess there are some low quality units out there that are a crap shoot...could just be that.

[GWL]

Brand new Powermaster, 130 amp, 3g, one wire alternator set up high on passenger side. Odyssey battery in rear trunk.

Alternator has 120° wrap of belt. I just took the belt off and it spun easily. I reassembled belt with a bit more tension.

A/C compressor with 100° wrap high on drivers side. Turns easily.

Power Steering pump low below A/C compressor on drivers side with 160° wrap. Turns easily.

Reverse water pump with smooth pulley running on the back side of the belt with 200° wrap.

Engine turns clockwise, as does all the others except the water pump.

Present voltage at rear battery is 12.67 volts. Voltage at alternator is 12.67 volts.

Grounds resistance is virtually zero. Alternator case shows 0.05 to 0.01 Ω resistance as well as all my grounds.

I'm headed to the garage to start again to check the slight increase of tensioning of the belt. I'll then also check the voltage from the alternator.

I'll report back.

Thanks for your comments, George

[GWL]

Yep, like Rich has said before, work from the simple to the complex. I've always kept that thought close at hand but don't always follow it for some reason.

Belt needed tightening, now no more squeaking sound, no more hot pulley. Alternator output voltage was 14.65 at idle which while I had it running increased the battery voltage up a bit.

Ran it long enough for thermostat to open and found a few water leaks.

Tried to time the ignition but I don't trust my timing light as it's working intermittently. I'm close but it's running a bit rough with a back fire once in a while over 1500 rpm. Idles fine with a little pulsing. I preset the TPS at about .895 volts. I preset the fuel pressure but will follow up with the proper fuel pressure with the engine running later.

A few other things to work out like no tachometer reading. I am using a Smith tachometer with a wire from the Ford Racing Engine harness to it.

Otherwise, I'll say the first start was a success.

Forgot, but a most important reading, oil pressure at idle 48 psi, 60 at about 1500 rpm.

Thanks guys, George

[Jeff Kleiner]

...I preset the TPS at about .895 volts.


Set it to .92-.95. If you change idle speed you'll need to recheck TPS voltage and adjust as necessary. You're trying to set timing with the SPOUT pulled, right? If not the computer takes over and will chase it as you move the distributor.

Congrats on making some noise!

Jeff

[GWL]

Set it to .92-.95. If you change idle speed you'll need to recheck TPS voltage and adjust as necessary. You're trying to set timing with the SPOUT pulled, right? If not the computer takes over and will chase it as you move the distributor.

Congrats on making some noise!

Jeff

Thanks Jeff,

Yes, spout pulled.

Will follow TPS voltage recommendations as noted.

Thanks, George

[CraigS]

Cool It's always nice when a problem turns out to have a simple solution!