the ac in my 91 318 has never worked and recently the bearings are starting to go out. can i bypass the ac by going under the water pump? it looks like there wont be enough clearance to do. is it possible? i havent been able to find a non ac pulley anywhere online or at junkyards here. any suggestions?

 

last time i checked you could. i think the only thing is you are only able to get 1 belt under it.

 

any idea what size that belt is?

 

no idea what size it was. i think i remember it was was a bit larger than power steering belt. maybe you can use some string to compare what you need.

 

You can do it. I actually did find a non-ac pulley at my local Advance Auto Parts. But the one they gave me didnt fit. Just slightly too small. But they did have another that was slightly bigger and it did fit. Although that size is apparently dis-continued. You may be able to find it. I got the brand and the product number for you, the brand is Drive Rite and the number is 895K7. I would go to different parts store asking, it is not uncommon for one part store to not have something that another one does.

Also I must say thanks, when I ran outside to get the part number I noticed I left my lights on. If I hadnt have gone of there for this I probably would have had a dead battery next time i went outside. Funny how things work out sometimes.

edit
btw I have a 92 w150

 

is that pulley serp belt or v belt i can find serp belt ones all day long

 

Its a serpentine belt. Its listed as a v-ribbed belt but thats not the same as a V belt.

I went to Advance's website and searched the part number, it came up.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...GRPBELTAMS____

 

I did the bypass today. The proper belt length was 52". I would recommend using an idler pulley from a non-ac truck. Everything worked very well, except there wasn't enough clearance under the water pump, as was mentioned. Since it wasn't much, I ended up filing off some of the water pump casing. It just barely clears now. I should probably actually do a little bit more, but obviously I don't want to go too deep. I had my fingers crossed the whole time, hoping I didn't go too far.

The results are good: one belt with one proper tension, no grinding bearings from the ac, and its not shredding the belt on the water pump yet. That being said, I'd rather have done the pulley swap. I actually have the proper pulley for the swap, I just can't get the bolts for the ac out. They are rusted and rounded, and just ugly. I'll probably end up having to drill out at least one.

 

Thank for the update, I was thinking of doing the same thing and was hoping to adjust of the alternator to get it to fit. I had not thought grinding down the water pump. The '82 service manual has the various configurations for the belts, I uploaded it below. Did you try to adjust the alternator's location in its bracket?

 

The belt I got was probably actually a little too short. The alternator is about 1/3 of the way from its rightmost adjustment. Thats as far as you can get with a 52" belt. I assume if you use a 54" or even a 56" you would be able to move the alternator farther left, and maybe clear. Crap. I wish that would have occured/been revealed to me before I bought the small belt and ground my water pump.