Rusty Pulleys on Volvo D1-20

[Spirit of Glenans]

Having had, for various reasons, to leave my boat laid up for three years, I now find that the three pulleys associated with the "fanbelt" are rusted up. The rust is on the surfaces which carry the belt. These are normally polished to bare metal by the friction of the belt. Thinking that the pitting on the surfaces would just cause premature belt wear my plan was to just remove them and replace with new parts,but having researched the cost (E360+) I have now picked myself up off the floor and decided to find a cheaper solution. Can I get away with this through the use of emery paper and elbow grease or am I in for a bigger job?
I should add that I have'nt physically done anything about this matter yet.

 

[davidej]

£300 for a couple of pulleys - wow!

Could they be interchangeable with pulleys you could get from an industrial plant spares company.

Someone may come on and tell you that the motor is based on a Perkins or something

 

[Portofino]

Emery paper and then waxoil.
Same prob on KAD300 - sorted

 

[sarabande]

or buy some very cheap belts from ebay, install them and let the belts do the hard work. When nice and shiny, (should be about 5 minutes) replace good belts. You then have a set of spares, too.

 

[Plevier]

or buy some very cheap belts from ebay, install them and let the belts do the hard work. When nice and shiny, (should be about 5 minutes) replace good belts. You then have a set of spares, too.

+1 but never mind ebay just go to your local bearings and power transmission wholesaler - e.g. BTR, Brenner etc., I paid about £3 for a belt for an MD2020 as I recall, a VP badged one is about £20!

 

[Billjratt]

Years of neglect by the PO left me with this - note the belt!

I started the engine (new belt - that one broke!) and held a file on the surfaces to be cleaned - they were that bad.
That was 2006 and it's been fine ever since - and yes, the leaky pump was sorted!

 

[Jcorstorphine]

Belts will wear very quickly on rusty pulleys. I tried the "fit a new belt and see if it cleaned up" technique but it shredded that one too. Best is to get a thinish wire brush fitted to a drill that will fit in the groove and just slowly clean the crankshaft pulley section by section by turning the engine round about 45 degrees at a time. The other pulleys can be cleaning in a similar way but allow them to turn.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ87OSoE_MtzRZH0d4NApRA4wtArGerlmJxrhEA0djSN4Mw_tN-

 

[MASH]

Concur that rusty pulleys will wear the belt. Whip em off, pop a bolt through the hole and stick it on an electric drill. Medium fine Emery cloth/paper will clean the faces up nicely. You're unlikely to cut any metal away but stop when the rust has gone. Works a treat. A bit of pitting may remain but won't do any harm as long as it feels smooth to the fingers.
You might find that wrapping the Emery round a section of belt will enable you to get deep into the groove if your fingers can't.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

Lots of useful advice. I'll use a combination of the different methods as indicated by progress. It's a relief that it appears to be a common enough occurrence with a simple solution. Thanks, everyone!

 

[DJE]

My Volvo 2002 eats a belt or sometimes two per season but they're a lot cheaper than pulleys so I keep plenty of spare belts on board.

 

[DaveS]

My Volvo 2002 eats a belt or sometimes two per season but they're a lot cheaper than pulleys so I keep plenty of spare belts on board.

There must be a reason for that. I've had a VP2002 for 16 years and the spare belt I bought is still in its box.

 

[DJE]

There must be a reason for that.

Yep misaligned and/or rusty pulleys. I've tried cleaning up the pulleys and packing the alternator bolt with washers but nothing makes much of a difference.