water pump t90

[owen]

my thorneycroft t90 has a pedestal type water pump. there does not appear to be any way of tensioning the belt. is this normal and how does one change the belt. any advice greatly appreciated

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[TonyBrooks]

If the t90 is a BMC1.5 I thought that the pump was bolted to an adjustable bracket with bolts through slots that allow the bracket to slide up and down. Feel below the pump and the flat plate it is bolted to.

If it proves that the pump is absolutely fixed, you could tension the belt by putting spacers between the pump and bracket, using longer bolts as required.

Although totaly bad practice I suspect that the belt could be romoved by using a screwdriver to lift it to the edge of teh pully and flicking the starter - its very dangeroue. I would simply loosen the mounting bolt s to allow the pump pully to "droop" enough to get the belt off.

I also think that the pump belt will run perfectly well with considerable amounts of slack in it because the load is not particularly high whern compared with alternator belts.

Tony Brooks

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[owen]

thank you tony. much appreciated

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[Johnjo]

Instead of flicking the engine on the starter, might be a better idea to turn it
over by hand with a socket or spanner on the crank, IMHO /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[Gordonmc]

The pump is a bit of a swine to work on... it is belt adjustable, but only just. The "adjusting" bracket is on the mounting bolted to the engine block and there's not much give.
I eventually had to take the whole pump off because; a. I couldn't get the belt off the pulley and; b. I couldn't get the pulley off the shaft.
If the bolts are original they will be Whitworth heads, so it will be worth replacing them for next time if you have no Whit. sockets.
I would advise you to carry an emergency belt made up of individual links rather than a spare automotive belt. That way you will be able to fit a replacement at sea if the belt fails. As already mentioned, it doesn't need to be as high tension as an alternator belt.

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